Soups and Stews

Image Credits: 
http://www.mirileigh.com/2009/12/spicy-sweet-roasted-fall-vegetables/ 

It's that time of year... the weather is getting cooler and the fall fruits & veggies are coming into season.  I love to make soups & stews on the weekend and then eat them throughout the week.  I've recently made two recipes utilizing in-season produce.  

The first recipe comes from page 108 of the the Paleo Recipe Book:

Crock Pot Beef & Sweet Potato Stew

Ingredients:

1lb of beef stew meat

3C sweet potato, peeled & cut into 1" cubes (I used 3 medium sized sweet potatoes)

2 garlic cloves, minced

a pinch of allspice

1 bay leaf

1 Cinnamon Stick

1 Large Onion, cut into chunks (I quartered mine)

1 can (28oz.) of tomatoes (I used diced in a can)

8 dried apricots, cut in half, optional (I decided to add these and while I enjoyed them, others who ate my stew said they would have left them out)

Chopped Parsley for garnishing (I didn't use this)

cooking fat

salt and pepper

Season meat with salt & pepper and brown in cooking fat in a skillet.  Place browned meat, sweet potatoes, garlic, cinnamon stick, onion, tomatoes and all spice in crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours (or until beef is tender).  Add dried apricots and cook, covered, for another 20 minutes, until apricots are soft.  Remove bay leaf and cinnamon stick and serve, sprinkled with chopped parsley.

I cooked this overnight and I kept waking up all night smelling this WONDERFUL scent in my house!  I enjoyed this stew, but the flavors were definitely a strange blend for me.  I'm not sure I will make this one again.

Turkey/Beef and Cabbage Soup

This soup is very easy to make and easy to customize. The inspiration for this one comes from the Weight Watchers Zero Point Cabbage Soup recipe.  Of course, WW and paleo are VERY different, but I've always enjoyed the flavor of this soup.  I turned it paleo by adding meat to it and using stock with fat in it.

Ingredients:

1lb grass fed ground beef

1lb ground turkey

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

Half head of cabbage, chopped

1 zucchini, cut into half circle slices

2 carrots, cut into half circle slices

2 celery stalks, sliced 

1 small onion, chopped

3C chicken or beef stock/broth

1 6oz can tomato paste

any other vegetables that you want to add (green beans, tomatoes, squash...etc.)

cooking fat

Sautee the garlic and onions in cooking fat (I used chicken fat from homemade broth) until the onions start to become tender.  Then add the ground beef and ground turkey and season with salt & pepper.  Fry meat until it is cooked through.  Add all vegetables, broth and tomato paste to the pot.  Cover and simmer on low-medium heat for 30-60 minutes, until all vegetables are tender.  Add salt & pepper and any other seasonings to taste.