Beef Stroganoff

In my continuing efforts to throw a few quick, painless dinners into your holiday repertoire and thus rescue you from only eating cookies this holiday season, I've got another meal for you that can be pulled together in 20 minutes. It's hearty and comfort-y and could even be considered healthy as long as you're cool with fat and dairy products (at any rate, it's healthier than stale cookies and/or another night of take out).

It can go with any veggie on earth although spinach and/or mushrooms are especially good pairings (because we're talking about pairings because this is a sophisticated blog about sophisticated stuff). Ahem. In actuality, my mother used to make beef stroganoff by combining browned beef with a can of cream of mushroom soup--a thing which you could still do and live to tell the tale and still be eating healthier than cookies and fast food. But. We're going to raise the bar just the tiniest smidgen and make this whole foodsy and even chop some garlic and throw in fresh spinach, folks. It's that kind of awesome.

Beef Stroganoff
adapted from Learning Patience
Serves 4-6
Prep and cook time: 15-20 minutes
Cost: $7.25
noodles: 1.00, beef: 4.00, cream cheese: 1.00, sour cream: .50, spinach: .60, other stuff: .15

1 lb egg noodles
1 lb ground beef
1 fat clove of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 handfuls chopped fresh spinach, lightly chopped

Get the water going for your egg noodles. When it's boiling, put the noodles in to cook.

While the noodles are cooking, brown your beef with a bit of salt in a skillet. When it's brown or mostly brown, add your garlic, thyme, and salt and pepper. Then add the cream cheese and sour cream. Stir until combined and creamy. This makes for a fairly thick stroganoff. If you want to loosen it up a bit, add some milk or pasta water to the mix.

Throw in your spinach and cook until wilted.

Serve over the egg noodles.

PRINTABLE RECIPE