In our seemingly endless quest to find new ways to create toddler ground beef recipes that don’t inevitably end up as burgers or tacos, we’ve recently become masters of, well, the obvious: i.e., why not pair ground beef with something else you have probably have lying around the house and also struggle to use differently? Here, that ingredient is the humble cucumber, which you may already serve in its natural form to your child–what child doesn’t like crunchy and watery, after all?--or mix into smoothies or pressed juices; chances are, though, you’re probably not finding many ways to get them into your main protein or entree. Simple solution: take a cue from east Asia and stir fry ‘em. Stir fried cukes show up in all sorts of Chinese and Korean mains, the latter of which inspires the flavors of the sauce that ties this cow and cucumber together. In Korea, something like this would be served as a banchan, or side dish; in what follows, though, we’ve paired it with some fluffy rice to make for a clean and complete dinner that your child can plow through quickly (like any other ground beef dish you make) and curiously (because it’s both something familiar and something else entirely).
We serve layered, with rice on bottom, cucumbers in between, and pieces of beef on top; you can also serve in a kind of triangle, with each element serving as one corner of the bowl if your child doesn’t like his/her food mixing. If your child likes small toppings on meat and/or rice dishes–say, scallions or sesame seeds–this is a good recipe to add a bit of flourish on top.
Thinking of using ground turkey or chicken instead of beef? A suggestion: don’t. Without much fat in the grind, the marinade will burn off in cooking and leave you with dry and pretty flavorless pieces of meat. If you insist, though, look for ground meat with a higher fat percentage–some turkey grinds have upwards of 10% fat–and add a bit more oil or a dollop of mayo to your marinade to ensure a higher percentage of fat.
Brad (the Dad) is the founder and Chief Recipe Officer of New Dad's Kitchen. His own cooking/feeding journey started humbly during his son's infancy, preparing and managing his son's bottle intake in order to support his wife; it has since blossomed into a full-on passion to feed his child and family delicious and healthy meals that can satisfy both a toddler and his very tired parents.
