Vancouver has gotten a lot of snow over the past couple of weeks and the weather doesn’t seem like it will let up. It’s cold out and the only way to keep warm is to make some Easy Beef Stew!!

When I say easy, this is EASY! Start with 1 chopped medium sweet onion and 1 pound stewing beef. Brown the beef in a hot pan. This should take a couple of minutes. Cooking the beef in portions works best.

Season the beef and onions with some salt and pepper.
While the beef is cooking, cut up some celery and carrots. I’ve cut them in larger chunk as I know they break down as you cook them.

While the carrots and celery are simmering, add a dash (or two) of Worcestershire Sauce. This sauce helps enhance the natural meaty flavour of your beef!

After a few minutes of letting the veggies do their thing, I added enough beef broth to cover all the ingredients. I like using low sodium beef broth because I can adjust the salt to my liking.

Turn up the heat to get the broth to a rolling boil. Once it is hot, turn down the heat to a medium low simmer. Add 2-3 whole cloves of garlic and 1/4 cup pearl barley. (I may have snuck in a handful of lentils as well).

To the stew, I also added one Roma tomato. This gives the stew a nice tomato kick.

Let the stew simmer for about 30 minutes before adding you potatoes. You don’t want the potatoes to fall apart too much.

After adding the chopped potatoes, let the stew boil for another 30-40 minutes. Occasionally you want to stir the stew to prevent things from sticking. The potatoes should be soft and just falling apart. The stewing beef will be also tender after the tough fibres start breaking down. Serve the stew with  a side of garlic toast and enjoy the warmth on a cold winter day!! YUM


Easy Beef Stew
Ingredients

• 1 LB stewing beef
• 1 box low sodium beef broth
• 1 medium sweet onion
• 1 carrot
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 roma tomato
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• a dash of Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 small yellow potatoes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup pearl barley