I love cinnamon but not usually in a beef stew.   With fall upon us and the sun setting earlier, I had a craving for beef stew, a winter time favorite.  Unfortunately, I used to make it with a store-bought spice pack with a list of ingredients unrecognizable and prehaps indigestible.   I didn’t let that deter me when I picked up grass-fed  stew meat at Trader Joe’s.   The list of ingredients to chop and prepare for traditional homemade beef stew did deter me however.   While flipping through MAKE IT FAST, COOK IT SLOW by Stephanie O’Dea, I found this recipe and miraculously had all the ingredients, including cinnamon sticks.   The slow cooking makes a rich brothy soup without flour or other thickners.   I suspected I would love it, but my husband who is a gravy fan, liked it too.

And another plus is the amazing health benefits of cinnamon.   Did you know it can help regulate blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes?  I didn’t.   Cinnamon also helps with inflammation and is loaded with iron and other minerals.  Go figure.

Here it is:

1 pound beef stew meat

3 cups beef stock

2 potatoes chopped in 1-inch chunks

1 cup cherry tomatoes (I could only find romas that weren’t horrid looking.  I used 4 and didn’t bother measuring)

1 cup carrots ( I used 4)

3 green onions (this surprised me but you didn’t really taste it)

5 t0 6 garlic cloves (good for the immune system and a must for cold and flu season)

1 to 2 tablespoons salt (I use sea salt)

1/2 tablespoon crushed rep pepper flakes (Again, I didn’t measure but was liberal with a few shakes into the crock pot.

1 teaspoon ground allspice  (I left this out because I didn’t have it)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 bay leaf (I have a bottle of this on the back shelf that I use every two years or so)

2 cinnamon sticks

Directions:

Put it all in a 6 quart slow cooker.   Cook on low for  8 to 10 hours or high for 6 hours.   I didn’t have that much time for low, so I went back and forth for about 7 hrs.   My experience is the longer the better.   The flavors really pop the next day.   I found this very rich and satisfying.

Even though I feel much better gluten-free, sometimes it sucks.   I should be lucky that something so simple helps my health but damn if I don’t miss warm bread.   And screw that gluten-free stuff in terms of bread.   It’s not fluffy and I’ve given up on it for now.  Eating a healthy tasty stew like the one above helps me fell less deprived.   Enjoy!