Friday, January 3, 2014

Italian Beef Stew

Italian Beef Stew

On a snowy and freezing cold day like today, with time inevitably spent outside shoveling and plowing away half a foot of snow, it is nice to come back inside and smell a delicious dinner cooking all on its own.  I usually don't like cooking beef and thought about making this stew with just vegetables and beans, but the organic vegetables at the store yesterday were not very plentiful or fresh looking.  I only used a pound of organic stew meat, which cost me less than $5, so this dish is not only deliciously flavorful, but economical as well. It does take a bit of time to cook, with a few steps in the process, but the actual effort is pretty minimal. It will make your house smell amazing, while providing you and your family (and probably a few more people) with a nutritious, high protein, hearty meal.  Sure to warm you up when the temperature outside is anything but!

Italian Beef Stew

ingredients, part 1
10 organic carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium red onion, chopped into large chunks
20 cloves of garlic, whole
1 pound organic stew beef, cut into large chunks
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. dried Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt

14 ounces dried organic farro
6 C. organic vegetable stock
ingredients, part 2

1 can organic dark red kidney beans
1 can organic chick peas
8.5 ounce jar of sun dried tomatoes





Place the carrots, onion, garlic and beef in a large crock pot and top with olive oil, Italian seasoning, pepper and salt.  Cook on low for about 5 - 6 hours.  Remove cover and add in the farro and vegetable stock, stirring to combine evenly and recover.  Increase the heat to high and cook for another two hours.  Remove cover again and stir in the beans and the sun dried tomatoes. Recover and heat through, for about 30 minutes. Serves 8.

ready to start cooking

after 5 1/2 hours, with farro and broth added

after another 2 hours

with beans and tomatoes added
ready to serve

dinner!!
served with a kale salad

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