Cuban picadillo, made AIP-compliant

Comfort food belongs on your table, made from real ingredients. Picadillo is savory and familiar, exactly the kind of dish worth returning to again and again. Every nightshade in it has a stand-in that works, and the dish still tastes like itself.

There is real medicine in a bowl of this. The ground beef is a source of zinc and protein, both involved in immune regulation and in repairing the gut lining. In place of tomato sauce you simmer in a butternut or sweet potato puree, which brings beta-carotene and a natural sweetness, and celery stands in for green pepper, keeping the dish bright and crunchy without the nightshade. Turmeric replaces the cumin and carries its own gentle anti-inflammatory reputation.

The beef came from an animal, so cook it with care and let nothing go to waste, the leftovers reheat beautifully for days. Before you eat, slice the avocado, scatter the cilantro, and take one slow look at the plate. Bringing a settled body to the table is part of how the meal lands, not a separate ritual from the eating.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound sweet potato, peeled and diced (AIP swap for potato)
• 1/2 pound yellow onion, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced (AIP swap, replaces the original nightshade)
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup butternut or sweet potato puree thinned with water (AIP nomato-style swap, replaces the original red sauce)
• 1/2 cup chicken broth, plus more as needed
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric (AIP swap, replaces the original seed-spice)
• 1/2 cup sliced green olives
• 1 avocado, sliced, to serve
• fresh cilantro, to serve
• olive oil, for the pan
• sea salt
• (omitted for Core: the original fresh nightshade and the black seed-spice)

Method

Warm a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the ground beef, breaking it up as it cooks. Set the beef aside and wipe out the pan.

Add a little more oil and saute the diced sweet potato, onion, celery, garlic, and turmeric with a good pinch of salt until the sweet potato is about half cooked, around 10 minutes. Stir often so the garlic and turmeric do not catch.

Return the beef to the pan along with the thinned butternut puree, the broth, and the olives. Simmer roughly 10 more minutes, until the sweet potato is tender, thinning with extra broth if it gets too dry. Taste and adjust the salt. Serve warm, topped with sliced avocado and fresh cilantro.

Keeps refrigerated up to 7 days and freezes well. Add the avocado and cilantro fresh at serving, not before storage.

Instant Pot variation

Use the Saute setting to brown the beef, then remove it. Saute the sweet potato, onion, celery, garlic, and turmeric for a couple of minutes. Return the beef with the butternut puree, broth, and olives, stir, and pressure cook on high for 4 to 5 minutes with a quick release. The sweet potato cooks fast under pressure, so start at the low end and check; mushy sweet potato is easy to cause here. This is an untested conversion, so adjust the time to your machine.

*Adapted from asquirrelinthekitchen.com*