Paleo Beef Stew

“Beef Stew”

(Whole 30 Compliant)

This weekend was particularly busy for my husband and me, as we BOTH worked Saturday AND Sunday, with a trip to New Jersey for our niece’s birthday in between.  Needless to say, it was going to be tough to fit in a healthy home cooked meal.  But, we managed to do it with this crockpot treasure. This beef stew is a favorite of our family on fall/winter Sundays and it worked out perfectly as this Sunday the snow came down pretty heavily just as we sat down to eat.  I hope this meal comforts you as much as it does us.  It’s not only tasty, but there is no sugar or flour, and we even swapped white potatoes for rutabaga.  That’s right rutabaga.  Shockingly, my ultra-picky husband doesn’t complain at all.  He can’t tell the difference. (Somebody pinch me, my husband ate AND LIKED rutabaga.  I must be dreaming). If he approves, it must be good.

Plus, it’s a good sized batch, so it should last a family of 4 at least 2 nights.

Here’s how we made it possible to fit this into our busy weekend:

 We chopped up the veggies BEFORE we left for the party and then stored them in the fridge in sealed containers.  When we returned from the party, we cooked up the veggies and beef and tossed in the crockpot. Then we left it on while we went to bed.  When we got up in the morning, it was finished.  I hope this helps you fit it into your lifestyle too. Let me know how it goes.

Ingredients:

A few teaspoons Ghee

5 Garlic cloves, minced

2 medium Onions, chopped

1 tspn Salt

1 tspn Pepper

5 Celery stalks, diced

5 Carrots, peeled and largely diced

1 Rutabaga, peeled and largely diced

2 Lbs. Organic, Grass fed Beef Chuck, cut into chunks

32 oz. Organic, Grass fed Beef Broth

7 oz. Organic Tomato Paste (I used Bionaturae)

1 TBSPN Herbs de Provence

Directions:

Melt a small amount of Ghee in a large sauté pan and cook garlic, onions and a pinch of salt and pepper until softened.  Toss the garlic and onions into the crock pot. Add more ghee to pan (if necessary) and repeat the process, cooking the celery, carrots, and rutabaga until softened with a touch of salt and pepper. (Note: you do not want to cook the veggies.  You just want to soften/brown them.  They will “cook” in the crockpot).  Remove the softened veggies from the pan and transfer to the crockpot.  In the same pan, (adding ghee if needed), sear the beef on all sides with salt and pepper to taste again.  Add the seared beef to the crockpot.  Add about a quarter cup of the beef broth to the hot pan to deglaze, scrape up any brown bits from the bottom, and add the contents of the pan to the crockpot. Add the rest of the beef broth to the crockpot along with the tomato paste and the Herbs de Provence.  Turn the crockpot on low and cook overnight or for 8-10 hours.

I like to pair this with a large green salad dressed with lemon, salt, and garlic powder.   Pictures below.

Let me know what you think!