Hearty Vegetable Beef Stew

I honestly didn’t think you would ever, ever, see me post recipes on here. I’m just not kitchen savvy; more a walking disaster type really. I’ve boiled water right out of the pot, burned Rice-a-roni, and had more unidentified objects in my fridge than seen in the night sky. But lately, dare I say, I’m finding joy in cooking. My creative side is coming out in the kitchen. Who knew?!

I have a feeling Pinterest is at fault. They have so. many. yummy looking pictures of food. You can’t help, but click through to the recipes, and give ’em a go. I’ll be posting more about Pinterest soon. Let’s get on with the yummy meal I cooked up last night. I had intended to take a picture of a full bowl. The smell was divine, my tummy rumbled, and well, I was two thirds done when I remembered. Thankfully, the picture still turned out.

I found a recipe for chunky veg soup on Pinterest, and tweaked it a little. Here’s my version:

Hearty Vegetable Beef Stew
recipe adapted from Ash @ butterflyfood
Serves 8-12

stew meat – large package
gluten free, all purpose flour – enough to coat the meat
4 tbs (ish) olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 celery stalks, chopped
6 carrots, chopped
2 tbs (ish) fresh thyme
2 tbs (ish) fresh basil
pinch of ginger
a couple shakes of chili powder
4 cans of diced tomatoes (14.5oz)
2 quarts vegetable broth (gluten free)
2 cups of gluten free pasta (I used penne noodles from Safeway, I think the Eating Right brand – came in a bag)

Place stew meat and flour in a zip lock bag, shake until coated – adding flour as needed. Put about two tbsp. olive oil in a pan and cook the meat until brown all over. Set aside.

Put the other two tbsp. of olive oil in a stock pot, and add the onion, garlic, celery, carrots, thyme, basil, ginger, chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook until just soft. Breath in and enjoy the delicious smell. Mmmmm. Now add the stew meat, tomatoes and vegetable stock. Simmer for about 15 minutes. The flour on the meat will help thicken the stew a little. Add the pasta and cook for another 10ish minutes. Basically, until pasta is cooked how you like it.

I imagine this would be wonderful with some yummy buttered bread, rolls, or cornbread. Maybe next time. Alas, I have yet to find a really good, gluten free bread or roll recipe. If you have one, please share. Enjoy the stew – perfect for cold, winter days.