Delicious beef stew in an hour

Here’s a terrific, warming dinner for a cold day: homemade beef stew. And it only takes a little over an hour to make, and since it is based on an old Weight Watchers recipe, it’s good for you. We got the stew beef from Village Market already cut up, but you can just as easily use chuck steak in this dish.

• 2 Tb olive oil
• 1 Tb minced onion
• 1 Tb minced carrot
• 1 Tb minced celery
• 1 lb stew beef (chuck) cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
• 1 cup chopped plum tomatoes
• ½ cup dry red wine
• ½ tsp thyme
• 1 or two bay leaves
• Salt and pepper
• 16 frozen pearl onions
• 2 carrots, peeled and coarsely sliced
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 Tb minced parsley

1. Saute the minced onion, carrots and celery in the olive oil for about 5 minutes. Then, dry the beef and add it to the pan. Brown the beef for about 5 minutes
2. Add the wine, tomatoes, thyme, bay leaves and salt and pepper, and cook covered for about half an hour, until the beef is nearly tender. Add more water if the mixture starts to go dry.
3. Then, add the potatoes, onions and carrots, and a cup of boiling water, stir and cook covered for another half an hour. Again, add more water if the mixture starts to go dry.
4. Remove the bay leaves, add the parsley and serve right away.

This is a full meal: you really don’t need anything else, but some crusty bread makes a nice accompaniment.

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