Keto Friendly Cheese Steak Casserole

I was starting to wonder if I was going to get to camp this summer but thankfully I was able to find a spot for a couple of nights. So a girlfriend and I packed up the car and headed for some nature, float time and hikes! I wanted to make something easy the first night and my friend is keto so spent time searching my brain for ideas until I realized I could just re-create my cheese steak recipe for the grill as a casserole! It turned out so good we nearly at the entire pan between the two of us!

Keto Cheese Steak Casserole

Ingredients –

• Sliced deli roast beef
• Red bell pepper
• Orange bell pepper
• Yellow or white onion
• Italian dressing (I used Ken’s Simply Vinaigrette Italian to avoid any added sugar and carbs)
• Sliced provolone cheese
• Sliced pepper jack cheese
• Butter lettuce (optional)

Peppers and Onion Sauteing over Campfire

Directions –

1) Place cast iron over fire and add tablespoon of oil until heated

2) Add sliced bell peppers and onion to cast iron. Saute until semi-soft

3) Add 1/4 – 1/2 cup Italian dressing until peppers and onion are coated

4) Place sliced roast beef evenly around cast iron

5) Top with provolone and pepper jack cheese until fully covered

6) Cover cast iron with aluminum foil and heat for about 15 minutes or until the cheese has fully melted and roast beef is heated through

7) Serve with butter lettuce (as a lettuce wrap) or side salad

Sugar Pine Reservoir

Mini Bell Pepper Appetizers

Baseball season is finally here and with that being an Oakland A’s fan means many tailgates.  I love tailgating for the friendship bonding time and getting to test out new recipes that sometimes make the camping menus on our trips.

Usually my bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers are a staple for tailgates but lately it seems like all my friends are either Keto, Paleo or vegetarian so for our first tailgate of the season, I wanted to come up with something that everyone could eat.  So here I give you a meat option for those Keto and Paleo friends and a goat cheese option for the vegetarians.

Keto & Paleo Friendly Bell Beppers –

Ingredients:

• Mini bell peppers – I grabbed the 1.5 lb at Costco
• 1 lb. Ground beef (or turkey but I feel beef has a lot more flavor)
• Taco seasoning packet
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup Tomato sauce
• Small onion
• Tomatoes (optional)
• Black olives (optional)

Directions:

1. Slice mini bell peppers in half and scrape out the seeds
2. Add a little bit of olive oil to pan and add and saute onions for a few minutes.  Then add ground beef and cook fully.
3. Add taco seasoning to ground beef and the tomato sauce.  I added enough sauce that it was coated but not watery.  Let beef simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.
4. Fill bell peppers with meat mixture
5. Top with tomatoes and olives if you want.  The people in our group preferred no tomatoes or olives but really up to your audience
6. Create foil packets and add bell peppers to them.  Grill for about 10 minutes or until the inside of the bell pepper looks heated through

Goat Cheese Mini Bell Peppers –

Ingredients:

• Mini Bell Peppers
• 10.5 oz. Goat Cheese Log – I find the Kirkland brand 2 pack goat cheese logs at Costco the best for value
• 2/3 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• Three cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 – 4 Jalapenos (depending on spice level), seeded and chopped

Directions:

1. Slice mini bell peppers in half and scrape out the seeds
2. In a large bowl, combine softened goat cheese, diced jalapenos, minced garlic, and shredded parmesan cheese
3. Fill the mini bell peppers with the goat cheese mixture.  Note: I find just using your hands is the easiest for this and I fill them to almost overflowing the brim of the peppers
4. Create foil packets and fill packets with bell peppers.  Grill for about 10 minutes or until cheese looks heated through and oozing.

 

Enjoy and Let’s Go Oakland!