Slow cooked spicy meat stew

4 portions 

 

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp avocado or flaxseed oil
• 700g organic grass-fed beef for stew
• 1 yellow onion, chopped 
• 2 medium sized carrots, cut into chunks  
• 2 organic celery stick, diced
• 200g mushrooms, chopped 
• 600-1000 ml water
• 2 organic beef stock cubes 
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 whole cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp cumin 
• 2 tbsp tomato puree 
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 0.25 tsp Ceylon cinnamon
• A pinch of chili powder
• 0.25 tsp ginger powder or approx. 2 cm fresh, finely chopped or grated 
• Salt and Pepper
• Handful of fresh leafy parsley, roughly chopped 

Serve with cauliflower rice, leafy green salad or quinoa 

 

 How to 

1. Clean and prepare all the vegetables. Cut the meat into 2cm size cubes.   

2. Place all the vegetables (onion, celery, oil, carrots, bay leaves, tomato purée, water, stock cubes into a large pot or a slow cooker). 

3. Bring to boil, then add the meat, mix, cover with the lid and let simmer on low heat for 7-8 hrs until the meat is tender. 

4. When meat is ready and tender, taste and add more salt, pepper or spices if needed. 

5. Serve warm in a bowl with chopped fresh parsley and cauliflower rice, quinoa or/and leafy green salad.

 

Health Benefits 

This is a slow cooking meat stew perfect for active days after a full day of sports and for serving larger groups. It’s also suitable for batch cooking and freezing.  

Its spices and different vegetables add different vitamins and antioxidants to the dish. It is a balanced meal with protein from the meat, carbs from vegetables and healthy fat from the oil and high in fibre from the vegetables.

Planning meals ahead and larger batch cooking has loads of advantages. The stew can be eaten several days with different accessories/side dishes, including being brought to work and also be frozen for future meals. 

Always keeping a few prepared healthy meals in the freezer for days that are time limited reduces the stress and energy of coming up with healthy food options and going shopping  when hungry and with low blood sugar as the brain usually tends to go for unhealthy quick fix options. Planning meals ahead saves time and energy and makes it easier to stick to healthy routines.