Beef and Golden Beet Stew

On nasty, cold rainy days like today there is nothing better than a bowl of warm, chunky stew.  The stews that I used to make would invariably contain some form of potato, whether I made them on my stovetop or in a slow cooker.  Since beginning the GAPS Diet nearly two years ago, potatoes have been removed from our diet.  I honestly haven’t missed them much, as you can make mashed “potatoes” using creamy cauliflower or “French fries” from carrot sticks or squash or whatever else you feel like using.

When making stew, however, it’s hard not to notice that something is missing.  So I tried to see what I could do about that when I made stew a couple of days ago.

It was the first thing my husband noticed when he sat down to dinner.  “Potatoes!” he said. “But they can’t be potatoes!  What are they?”  He couldn’t guess, no matter how hard he tried.  They looked like potatoes, had the texture of potatoes, tasted better than potatoes … but weren’t potatoes.

Hello, golden beets!

Beets are full of nutrition and add so much flavor to this recipe.  After trying a bowl, you may find that you don’t miss potatoes that much after all 😉

 

Beef and Golden Beet Stew

1-2 lbs. grassfed beef stew meat

1-2 Tbs. ghee

1 to 1 1/2 liters homemade meat stock (chicken or beef)

2 large golden beets, chopped into approx. 1 inch sized cubes (I do not peel the beets for this recipe)

1 onion, finely diced

1-2 carrots, sliced

several cloves of garlic, whole or minced

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried parsley

sea salt/pepper to taste

 

1. If you are on stage two, start by adding in your meat stock first and bringing it to a boil before adding in your other ingredients. If you are on a more advanced stage of Intro or on Full GAPS, you can start by heating up your ghee and lightly browning your stew meat before adding in your meat stock.
2. After adding in your stew meat, add in the remaining ingredients and bring to a low boil. Reduce heat and gently simmer for about an hour. The longer you simmer your meat, the more tender it will become. You could also just simmer the meat in the stock for approx. 1 to ½ hours before adding in the rest of the vegetables to increase the tenderness of the meat.
3. When your vegetables are tender, turn off heat, season to taste and serve.
4. You can also add sour cream to this stew, but make sure you allow the soup time to cool slightly so that the probiotics in the sour cream are not killed by the high temperature of the stew.

 

 

 

Enjoy and stay warm this winter!

~ Alicia