Red Wine Crockpot Paleo-ish Stew
I love my crockpot. I don't use it nearly enough, but I friggin love it.
Michael also love the crockpot - my guess is that's because he tends to be the one to pick out what's going inside of it ;)
On Sundays I like to make some type of comfort food. It's one of the more relaxing nights we get to spend together, and this time of the year that usually includes football or binge watching past seasons of Game of Thrones. Regardless of what we are doing, I love being able to have an amazing Sunday dinner waiting for Michael when he gets home.
I was in a beef stew mood this past Sunday, which is slightly weird since I've pretty much stopped eating red meat...but a las I was craving some stew action. Knowing that I wanted a healthy recipe that Michael would still enjoy I turned to my BFF - Pinterest. After entering a few keywords, the first pin that popped up was for Trina's Paleo Newbie Crockpot Beef Stew...we had an instant winner, folks.
FIRST of all, I was obsessed with the fact that the recipe called for red wine. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a girl who loves her wine...especially a good red this time of the year, so of course I had some waiting to be used on the counter.
SECOND, Trina's recipe was so simple to follow. Easy, relatable ingredients that are good for you and taste even better when simmering in a slow cooker all day. I did make a few tweaks {no surprises there!} and added in some additional veggies that I had on hand, including potatoes, becuase I'm 99% sure Michael would not have accepted a beef stew sans potatoes. I also swapped dried herbs for fresh, because I'm almost as obsessed with fresh herbs as I am wine.
Red Wine Crockpot Paleo-ish Stew:
Sea salt & black pepper
cracked red pepper flakes
fresh rosemary
fresh thyme
3-4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
2 to 2 1/2 lbs boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1" cubes {I used Trader Joe's Lean Stew Meat, it was already cut up, #winning}
1/2 cup red wine
1 - 1/2 cups organic beef broth
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 bag of organic baby carrots, cut in half
3 stalks celery, rough chopped
2 russet potatoes, chopped
1/3 bag of frozen peas
Cut beef into 1-inch pieces and season generously with salt, pepper and TJ's 21 Seasoning Salute. Place in slow cooker. In a small bowl whisk tomato paste into the beef broth. Pour over beef along with the wine. Add carrots, celery, potato, and onion along with garlic and remaining seasonings. Give the ingredients a good stir, cover and cook on low 4-6 hours or on high 2-3 hours. About 30 minutes before serving, add in your frozen peas.
Trina then encourages you to garnish with fresh chopped parsley. I also served some crusty buttered bread on the side, because let me tell ya...that juicy broth is too good!
Hope you enjoy!
- Xo Kelly