**Update at the new year during my WHOLE30 recharge – I made this one and topped it with avocado and lime instead of yogurt. I pretty much top everything in avocado these days. I added these options to the recipe.**

Hubs started cooking from a new paleo cookbook he found — Thank you Mel Joulwan! Turns out she devotes an entire section to a weeknight staple, hot pan. Basically, it’s various combinations of proteins, vegetables and spices thrown into a hot frying pan. I love a cookbook that gives me a concept and lets me run with it unscripted based on what’s in my fridge. Below is one of my own creations, now a regular in our weeknight rotation.

We purchase a 1/4 beef each year, which means we get a lot of good quality beef in all the cuts as well as ground beef — so much ground beef. It’s quality locally-sourced ground beef, but you can only make so many tacos and pasta Bolognese. When I find something new to make with ground beef, I’m thrilled. If you have a favorite healthy recipe that calls for ground beef, I would love to see it in the comments!

This recipe calls for Madras curry powder. My favorite is Nirav Madras style curry powder. There are many different spice blends out there, and not all Madras curry powder is the same. Some blends are spicier than others, so it’s crucial that you slowly add it and keep tasting until it reaches a strength you like.

Madras curry and ground beef hot pan, serves 4

• 1 small spaghetti squash
• 1-2 T olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, diced (Play this up or down depending on your love for garlic!)
• 1 lb ground beef
• 3 T Madras curry powder (add slowly, taste and adjust as needed!)
• 1.5 cups (give or take) chopped carrots
• 1 head radicchio, sliced
• Fresh parsley, chopped
• Avocado and lime (optional garnish; a good dairy-free option for the WHOLE30 set)
• Sour cream or greek yogurt (optional garnish if you keep dairy in your diet)

1. Cook your spaghetti squash. There are millions of how-to’s on spaghetti squash. I prefer Michelle Tam‘s way of cutting it in half crosswise and putting it in a pressure cooker for 7 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, chop your veggies.
3. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic and onion and saute with a little salt and pepper. Cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Deglaze the pan with a splash of wine if you’ve got it lying around, but you can skip this no problem.
4. Add ground beef and maybe a little more salt and pepper. About half way through cooking beef, add your chopped carrots.
5. Our ground beef doesn’t have much fat and we rarely need to drain it. If you are using a ground beef with a high fat content, then drain the fat at this step.
6. Slowly start to add the curry powder, tasting your dish and adding more as needed.
7. When the carrots start to soften, add the radicchio and spaghetti squash.
8. Continue to taste and adjust spice as needed.
9. Serve sprinkled with parsley and either avocado chunks with lime or a dollop of sour cream or greek yogurt — or both!.