SLOP

Now what exactly is this poorly named “slop”? Well, it’s basically throwing a bunch of left over veggies or other things that are about to expire into a pan, seasoning it up, and cooking it all together. It is not the most visually pleasing dish, but I promise you it still tastes good and helps reduce food waste in your kitchen. Here’s what I used for my version of slop, but the ingredients used can vary widely based upon what you have on hand.

Stuff Used

• 1lb of Ground Turkey (Can use ANY left over meat though. Left over chicken, beef, pork, anything).

• Broccoli

• Carrots

• Tomatoes

• Bell Pepper (Yellow/Orange/Red doesn’t matter)

• Half an Onion (Yellow/Red/White doesn’t matter)

• Celery

• Garlic or Jarlic (Jarred Garlic)

Now that’s just what I put into my slop this particular time. Here are some other things you can theoretically throw into your own slop.

• Zucchini

• Asparagus

• Cabbage

• Squash

• Peas

• Green Beans

And that’s just to name a few, the purpose of this dish is to use up veggies or meat that are either left over or about to expire so you don’t waste food. To keep up with the terrible word usage, this dish is basically a trash can in a pan. But its good trash, trust me.

Start off by adding oil to the pan on medium heat, letting the pan get hot and throwing any of the veggies & garlic you are going to use into the pan. This will get them sweating and start to soften. I’m using Yellow Bell Pepper/Celery/Carrots/Red Onion/Jarlic (And although not pictured here, I did eventually add broccoli to the mix after finding some left over in the fridge).

Cook ‘em for about 5~6 minutes or so and then add the meat.

Aaaaand now were cooking. Stir frequently at the start to ensure your meat cooks all the way through. Then let it chill and brown a bit. If you’re using meat that has already been cooked, then you don’t need to worry as much as you’re basically just heating it up at this point. Here are the seasonings I used for my own slop:

Seasonings

• Onion Powder

• Garlic Powder

• Salt

• Pepper

• Paprika

• Cumin

• Pre-Made Protein Spice Blend (There are a variety of these. You can use steak seasoning, poultry styled seasoning, Italian herb blend, etc. Really almost any pre-made spice blend will be suitable here)

I know I’m not giving you guys any specific measurements on the seasoning here. It’s because typically most home cooks do not measure out the amount of seasonings they use for a dish like this. When making sauces, marinades and things such as that - measurements matter more. But when you’re just seasoning your food, you really just need to eye ball it. Get a feel and get a hang for just seasoning your food. Measurements are hard to gauge and vary based upon your own personal tastes. In the past when I was learning to cook, I used to follow the exact measurements and often found it was UNDER seasoned and called for much more than what was quoted. I find it unreliable to say how much is needed for dishes like this and you can always taste your food once its fully cooked to determine what it needs more of.

Cook the meat until it’s no longer pink and is fully cooked. This will take something like 7~8 minutes or so. Honestly though, just look at it and make sure its not raw, that’s all you’re going for here.

There you have it. Give your slop a taste and see if it tastes good to you. If it’s under seasoned, try to figure out what you think it needs more of based on your tastes and add more. This is all part of the cooking process. You’ll make mistakes, you’ll under season, sometimes you’ll over season. Just know you have to be kinda bad at something before you get kinda good at something. I’ve done both plenty of times when I was starting out and you’ll get the hang of it eventually.