When the temperature starts to drop, I find my self yearning for the soothing, comfort foods of my youth. In particular, my grandfather’s recipe for vegetable beef stew. It’s rich, stick to your ribs hearty and since it is chock full of vegetables it’s also very healthy! This dish can be prepared stove top or in the crock pot, either way it fills the house with tempting aromas. This stew is very high in the anti-oxidants, Vitamins A and C, as well as Iron, Folate and fiber1. A meal that combines Iron with Vitamin C enhances Iron absorption and is a helpful trick if you need to increase your Iron intake. 2 The cabbage in this recipe is a Brassica vegetable, high in the anti-cancer substances diindolylmethane, sulforaphane and selenium.3

Vegetable Beef Stew

Makes 12 (2 cup) servings

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time Stove top: 3 hours
Or
Prep time: 20 minutes
Crockpot time: 4 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low

1 ½ Lbs. Stew Meat
2 (14 oz.) cans low sodium tomatoes
½ head green cabbage, chopped
1 (32 oz) bottle low sodium v-8 Juice
2 cups sliced carrots
1 (14 oz.) can low sodium beef broth
1 large onion , diced
3 TBS olive oil (extra virgin, first cold press is best)
4-5 potatoes diced in ½ inch cubes
5 stalks celery, chopped
Pepper to taste

Heat large Dutch oven (or large heavy bottomed sauce pan) on medium high heat until hot add 1 TBS olive oil and brown stew meat on all sides (about five minutes total). Remove browned meat from skillet add remaining olive oil reduce heat to medium and add diced onion, celery and carrots.
Sauté onions, celery and carrots till browned but not tender (about five minutes). Add beef broth to pan and scrape any browned bits from bottom of pan. Return beef to pot and all remaining ingredients except canned tomatoes. Reduce heat, cover and simmer stove pot for about 2 1/2 hours (alternative to stove top can be put in crock pot on high for 4 hours or low for 6 hours). Remove lid at 2 1/2 hours and continue to simmer for 30 more minutes to thicken. Add tomatoes at end of cooking to heat through and serve.

Nutrition Info: Percent Daily Values Based on a 2000 calorie Diet
Serving Size: 2 Cups Vitamin A 90%
Calories 370 Vitamin C 90%
Total Fat 8 g Calcium 6 %
Sat. Fat 2.5 g Iron 20%
Trans Fat 0 g
Polyunsat. Fat 1 g
Monounsat. Fat 5g
Cholesterol 50 mg
Sodium 240 mg
Total Carbohydrate 38 g
Dietary Fiber 6 g
Sugars 11 g
Protein 29g

Nutrition Content Evaluated by Nutribase 7, Clinical edition.

1. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 22, No. 1, 18–35 (2003)
2. International Journal for Vitamin and Nutrition Research, Supplement 1989;30:103-8
3. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 1999;472:159-68