Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Although I love complex flavors and daring new dishes, at heart I'm a meat and potatoes girl. I think it's my inescapable Scottish heritage. I recently tried this slow cooker beef stew recipe from Real Simple and it was amazing with plenty of leftovers for hot lunches at work, which I froze in individual containers for single-serving convenience. I did make a few alterations. In order to make it a little more healthy, I reduced the amount of meat to 2 lbs. It was still plenty meaty, trust me. I also used lean, thin-cut sirloin on sale at Wal-mart because it was close to its expiration date. Affordable and healthy. The meat was so tender and just fell apart in the stew, making it rich and hearty, far better than that awful stew meat you can buy. I also didn't bother browning all the meat. I started to and it was taking forever at which point I said the heck with this and threw the rest of the floured meat into the crock pot. It didn't make a bit of difference. Next time, I will skip that step altogether. The other thing I'll add is that the wine makes all the difference in this dish. Don't skip it. It provides a depth of flavor that takes this from ho-hum to humming. Bon apetit!

Slow Cooker Classic Beef Stew
Serves 8-10| Hands-On Time: 35m | Total Time: 8hr 00m

Ingredients

• 4 pounds bottom round, well trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup olive oil (plus more if needed)
• 2 large onions, diced (2 cups)
• 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 pound potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
• 1/2 pound baby carrots (about 2 cups)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed

Directions

1. Coat the beef in the flour. Heat a few tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, adding more oil as necessary. Transfer to a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker.
2. Add the onions to the skillet and cook over medium heat until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and coat the onions; transfer to the cooker.
3. Pour the wine into the skillet and scrape up any browned bits; add to the cooker. Stir in the potatoes, carrots, broth, salt, thyme, and bay leaf.
4. Cover and cook on low heat for 7 1/2 hours, or on high for 4 hours. Add the peas and heat through.

Nutritional Information

• Per Serving
• Calories 520Calories From Fat 34%

• Calcium  54mg
• Carbohydrate  31g
• Cholesterol  127mg
• Fat  20g
• Fiber  4g
• Iron  6mg
• Protein  48mg
• Sat Fat  5g
• Sodium  1061mg