A one-pot skillet of herbed ground beef deglazed with balsamic and finished with wilted kale, ready in about half an hour

Some nights the only version of AIP that is actually going to happen is the single pan you already own. Soften the onion, brown the beef with rosemary, sage, and thyme already stirred in, splash the balsamic in to deglaze, then pile the kale right on top so it wilts instead of steaming in a separate pot. 30 minutes start to finish, one pan in the sink, and nothing here asks for effort you do not have tonight.

Beef gives you zinc, a mineral tangled up in tissue repair and in keeping immune signaling from running too hot, and the kale on top holds its own dark-green nutrients, vitamin K among them. Together, on a night when a real dinner happens instead of takeout or nothing, that combination is doing quiet, real work.

Let the beef go past plain gray into real color at the edges before the herbs go in; that browning is where the actual flavor of this dish lives. Cook the kale down until it is dark and tender, fold it through the meat, and this pan is dinner, no plate required if that is easier tonight.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 1/3 lb ground beef
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 tsp dried rosemary
• 3/4 tsp dried sage
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme
• 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 8 cups chopped kale, packed

Method

1. Warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft and beginning to color.
2. Add the ground beef. Break it up as it cooks and brown it through. Season with the sea salt, rosemary, sage, and thyme, stirring so the herbs coat the meat.
3. Pour in the balsamic vinegar and stir, scraping up anything stuck to the bottom of the pan. Let it cook down for a minute.
4. Pile the chopped kale on top. Cover the pan and let the kale steam down until wilted and tender, then stir it through the beef.
5. Taste, adjust the salt, and serve warm.

Notes

• Fully Core-compliant as written.
• Confirm the balsamic vinegar is clean-label with no added sugar, coloring, or preservatives.
• Coconut-free.
• Servings are not given in the source; the roughly 30-minute total comes from the source title.

*Adapted from phoenixhelix.com*