Winter is usually a time for comfort foods. When I crave filling, starchy comfort foods, I try to be mindful of healthy eating and ingredients that are filling, yet still have some healthy benefits. Keeping that in mind, I have tried to combine both comfort and healthier ingredients into a lighter version of a cozy Beef Stew.
The nice thing about stews is that they are relatively easy to make if you have a slow cooker. I put my slow cooker to use a lot during the winter months. Meat and stews cooked "low and slow" are not only full of flavour, but they're fall off the bone tender. You can use a slightly less expensive cut of meat and still get top notch results after is slowly simmered for 6-8 hours. I also love the fact that I can place all of the ingredients into a slow cooker before work and come home to a fully cooked dinner. Yay.
For this Beef Stew recipe, I opt to lightly brown, or sear the beef prior to adding it to the slow cooker. I feel that searing the meat first seals in the juices, keeping the meat moist. If you don't want to take the time to do this, you can omit this step. My Mom likes to put all the ingredients in, raw meat as is, and press start and her stew turns out just as fabulous! So to sear or not to sear is up to you.
Here's to hearty, healthier comfort food - Slow Cooker Beef Stew.
Enjoy,
Krista
Slow Cooker Beef Stew (adapted from Taste of Home))
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
6 carrots peeled and cut in 1-2” pieces
1 med onion chopped into medium pieces
6 potatoes peeled and cut into 2” pieces
3 parsnips peeled and cut into 1-2” pieces
4 stalks of celery cut into 2” pieces
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1-1/2 lbs beef stew meat cut into 1” cubes
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes & liquid 1 cup beef broth 1/2 - 1 cup red wine (*optional: substitute with broth if not using wine) 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp dry mustard powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 tsp thyme leaves removed from stem + 3-4 whole stems of thyme (more for garnish) 1 bay leaf 500 grams sliced or quartered mushrooms Parsley for garnish
Method
Add potatoes, carrots, onion, parsnip and celery into a 5-qt. slow cooker.
Place flour in a large resealable plastic bag. Add stew meat to bag, seal and shake to coat meat.
In a large skillet, add vegetable oil and brown meat in batches. Place seared meat on a plate until all batches are browned. Add meat to the vegetables in the slow cooker, including any juices from the plate.
De-glaze skillet with a bit of stock to scrape up fond (the brown bits) & add to slow cooker.
In a medium sized bowl, whisk tomatoes, broth, wine (if using, otherwise add more stock), Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder, salt and pepper, thyme (leaves and stems) and bay leaf. Pour over beef & vegetables mixture. Stir to mix.
Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours, or until the meat and vegetables are fork tender.
With 30 min of cooking time left, add in the cut mushrooms.
Before serving stir stew and remove thyme stems and bay leaf. Garnish with cut parsley.
Serve over top of creamy mashed potatoes or puréed parsnips.
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