Stew!

It's been awfully chilly outside these past two weeks. All I feel like having when it's cold outside, is warm, delicious comfort food. That's when the soup craze started. Lately, I've been craving a thicker broth, like stew. For Christmas, Aaron made me a delicious replica version of the ultra fattening (but AMAZING) traditional Québec ragout. It was lean, but needed a thickening agent. That's when we played around with corn starch for a bit. After the initial successful thickening of the ragout, I tried again with my soups only to have a mini heart attack when I saw how many carbs and calories were going into my broth, mostly in vain because it really wasn't working too well. I gave up on the idea for a whole until recently. I was walking through the grocery store and saw a sale on top round beef roasts. At this point, I am over ground turkey and I was craving some red meat. All I could think of when I saw it was stew. That's when I began to research low carb thickening solutions again. I came upon this website that had the most genius idea ever. So simple, I should have thought of it myself! Purred low carb veggies, people!! That's the secret! I've had stew three times this week and I can't stop lol. Here is the recipe for my reinvented skinny stew! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 top round beef roast, fat trimmed and cooked in the crockpot on low for 8 hrs. (You will have LOTS of left overs!)

• 2 medium turnips, peeled and cubed.

• 2 cups of green cabbage, shredded.

• 1.5 cups of green beans, trimmed.

• 4 cups of low sodium beef broth.

• 2 tbsp of Mrs. Dash onion and herb salt free seasoning.

• 1 clove of garlic, minced.

• Fresh ground pepper to taste.

• 2 tsp tomato paste.

In a large pot, bring the beef broth to a rolling boil. Add garlic, tomato paste, and seasonings.
Add turnips, green beans, and cabbage. Boil until vegetables are soft; about 10 minutes.
With a slotted spoon, take the turnips and 80% of the cabbage out and put into a blender. (I use the magic bullet) Add a spoonful of broth to mixture. Purée until very smooth. Add back to broth.
Add 6 oz of the slow cooked beef and stir everything together. If it isn't thick enough to your liking, keep boiling gently until more liquid evaporates and it reduces.

Tada! Done! That's it! It's the creamiest, thickest, most satisfying way of having my lean and green yet!