SALSA BURGER SCRAMBLE

SALSA BURGER SCRAMBLE
2 pounds ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped (about 5 ounces)
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and chopped fine
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
3/4 cup salsa
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
Other optional seasonings, to taste

In a 4-quart Dutch oven, brown the ground beef along with the onion and garlic; drain the fat, if desired. Stir in the chopped spinach. Add the cream cheese to the pot in chunks. Use the back of a spoon to smash the cream cheese into the meat so that it blends in well. If you don't do this, you'll end up with little blobs of cream cheese. Stir in the parmesan cheese and salsa; mix well.

Put the meat mixture in a greased 2 1/2-quart casserole dish. Sprinkle a little additional parmesan cheese over the top, if you like. Bake at 350?about 30 minutes until hot and bubbly and the top is nicely browned.

Makes about 6 servings

Per Serving: 593 Calories; 42g Fat; 45g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 5g Net Carbs

This is a variation of Dottie's Burger Scramble Florentine recipe. Lately I've been topping it with salsa and that gives it a very unusual flavor. So, I decided to try adding the salsa to the casserole and it's very good. This doesn't have a Mexican or Tex-Mex flavor but you could add some taco seasoning if you like. I put in a couple of different seasonings to taste. I used a fair amount of my No-Salt Seasoning and a tiny bit of my Kentucky Fried Chicken Seasoning.

The salsa that I used has about 4 carbs per 1/4 cup. I used parmesan cheese that comes in a green can. I don't drain the fat after I brown the ground beef but that's just my preference. If you drain yours, you may need to add a bit of cream to thin down the casserole. Although I buy frozen chopped spinach, I don't like long stringy pieces in my food. So, I dump the thawed spinach onto a large cutting board and chop it very fine with a large knife. Click the photos to see close-ups.

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