{recetas} Veggie & Beef Stew

Two recipes in one week!? What!? I'm on a roll!

I finally made the beef stew that has been on my menu for the last couple of weeks. I looked for a couple of different recipes, and finally settled on combining a couple. I'm just a little bit picky about things. My husband, on the other hand, is not. He will eat whatever I put in front of him.

Of course, that doesn't mean he likes it! But this stew-this stew!-he devoured! It was so delicious the hubs asked for it to be put on next week's menu. That, my friends, is a success!

What you need:

• 1.5 or 2 pounds of stew meat (go with 2 pounds-nice and meaty!)
• half of 1 rutabaga
• 3 carrots
• 1 package (8 oz) baby bella mushrooms (or white button if you prefer)
• 1 medium sized onion
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1.5 tsp. minced garlic
• 2 tbsp. tamari (or soy sauce)
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• salt
• pepper
• 16 oz. beef broth
• 1 tbsp. arrowroot starch (or cornstarch, if you're not concerned with paleo)

What you do:

• Cut the stew meat into smaller pieces if necessary. The kind I always buy is in such huge chunks.
• Mix together the tomato paste, minced garlic, dried thyme, and tamari. I did this in a separate bowl and simply mixed with a spoon. Easy.
• Chop all of your vegetables. I only chopped the mushrooms in half, since the cooking time is so long. That way they won't taste gross in the stew. As mentioned above, use your choice of mushrooms. I prefer the baby bellas...they're just so delicious! Be sure to peel and chop the carrots and the rutabaga (did you know rutabaga comes with a waxy layer on it to keep in moisture? I didn't...). Anyway. Chop all of your vegetables.
• Place the stew meat in the bottom of the crock pot, then add the tomato/tamari paste/sauce on top of that. Add your vegetables, pour in the beef broth. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. I suggest using the salt and pepper from a grinder. It's delicious, and it's fun to add to the pot.
• Cover the crock pot, and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Keep in mind that all crock pots cook differently. Serve your stew when the meat is tender and the vegetables are cooked through. When it's done and ready to serve, scoop out a bit of the beef broth and whisk it together with your starch (arrowroot or cornstarch). When this mixture is lump free, stir it back into the crock pot until well blended. This will thicken the broth and give you the "stew" texture.
• Eat it up and enjoy!