All Day Beef Stew

This is a tried and true recipe that will help keep your iron stores up while still maintaining important elements like convenience, tastes of other family members and budget. This is a great recipe that fits all of those requirements and is especially easy for the working person. All the ingredients can be assembled that morning or even the night before. A crock pot is ideal for this recipe, but if you don’t have one, you can simply put all the ingredients in a pot and cook it all day (if you feel safe leaving your stove on!) or, cook it a few hours before serving. You’ll come home to delicious smells and feel all warmed up on a cold winter night. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. stew meat cut into 1 inch pieces. Whole Foods carries our NC local, grass-fed beef from Baldwin farms—makes this recipe particularly yummy
• 5 yukon gold or red potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 2 to 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2-3 Tbs olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Brown the meat on all sides in 1 Tbs olive oil, being careful not to crowd the pan (this may take a few steps). Place browned meat in the crock pot.

Add potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, green beans (if cooking on a stove-top, wait to add the green beans), tomatoes and thyme to the crock pot.

Cover the ingredients with the chicken broth. Gently mix all the ingredients.

If using a crock pot, cook on LOW for 7-8 hours.

If cooking on a stove-top, bring all the ingredients to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer on low for 2-3 hours (or longer if possible--the longer the better). Add the green beans in the last hour of cooking. Season with salt and pepper to taste.