Guilt-Free Meat Sauce, 3 Ways

This is the meat sauce your Italian grandmother would make if she were also a fitness instructor. Below I have included three ways to enjoy it, besides the usual way, over pasta.

1 tablespoon olive oil (not extra-virgin)
large pinch red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound 93% lean ground beef (I like Laura's from Kroger)

1 large (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
fresh herbs: mint, basil, oregano (amount when chopped, about 3 tablespoons total)
(If you don't have fresh herbs, use 2 teaspoons each of dry mint and dry basil, and add it to the pan along with the garlic and red pepper flakes. In my opinion, dried oregano just kind of hijacks a recipe.)

salt
freshly-ground black pepper

Put the olive oil in the pan and add the garlic and red pepper flakes (and dried herbs if using), while the pan is still cold. Heat it very slowly, until you hear the garlic sizzle, but before it browns. Add the ground beef, turn the heat up a bit, and brown it, breaking it up with the edge of a metal spatula really well into very small pieces. With this type of super-lean ground beef, breaking it up until it's tiny is key, because it can seem a bit tough if left in large pieces. Tilt the pan and use a spoon to scoop out any liquid or fat that has accumulated.

Add the crushed tomatoes and fresh herbs, stir well, and simmer slowly, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Partially cover pan with a lid to control the spatter, but don't cover it all the way or the sauce will not thicken properly. When the sauce looks nice and thick (usually about 20-30 minutes) taste it for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Be sure to taste it first before adding the salt, because some brands of crushed tomatoes are much saltier than others. It's ready!

Feel free to serve this over regular or whole-wheat spaghetti, but I like it over brown-rice pasta (Tinkyada brand is by far the best - Earth Fare carries it), spaghetti squash, zucchini "pasta," or roasted eggplant slices (see below).

Spaghetti squash: Cut spaghetti squash in half crosswise (not lengthwise) and scoop out seeds. Turn halves upside down in a roasting pan with an inch of water in it. Put in a 375 degree oven. After 20 minutes or so, prick it with a fork to see if it's tender. When tender, remove from the oven, remove from the pan, and cool on a plate until it's cool enough to handle. Get a fork and scrape the squash, bit by bit, out into a bowl. Don't try to use a spoon for this step. If you use a fork, it will come out in strands, like spaghetti. Toss in a little butter and kosher salt and it's ready for the sauce.

Zucchini "pasta": Wash and cut the ends off your zucchini (leave the skin on) and use a vegetable peeler to peel thin, pasta-like ribbons off the zucchini. Rotate the zucchini around as you do this to keep the ribbons of zucchini a manageable width. I usually do about 6 or 7 zucchini to feed our family generously. Saute the zucchini ribbons lightly in olive oil, and add a sprinkling of freshly-ground black pepper and kosher salt at the end.

Roasted Eggplant: Cut eggplant into thick (say 3/4-inch) slices. Put on a cookie sheet in a single layer and brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Roast in a 400-degree oven until slightly browned on both sides. Top with the sauce. This is kind of like a healthier, dairy-free version of Eggplant Parmesan (of course you could grate a little parmesan or pecorino over it if you like).