This was my dinner tonight and was it ever GOOD!
I’ve been stewing beef with onions and red and/or green peppers for eons, as did my mother when I was growing up. She always called it Spanish Stewed Beef if she threw bell peppers in it. Somewhere on the net recently I read that Spanish cuisine uses a lot of cinnamon and cloves (I have to admit, I’m not fond of cloves in meat dishes), so I decided “What the heck, I’m going to add some and see what I get!”

Well, I’m here to tell ya I made this tonight for dinner and the cinnamon and cloves were magical in it! I may even add a little more next time. I also added a seeded jalapeno, but it wasn’t hot, so I may not seed it next time. I did want a little “bite” in this dish. This is very nutritious and suitable for all phases of Atkins. It's OK for Paleo and Primal diners as well. Just check out the nutritional stats on this dish! The basic ingredients would lend themselves to a rendering in lamb s well.

I used a pressure cooker for this dish both to speed up cooking and to help tenderize the grass-fed beef. Grass-fed beef is so lean, it tends to cook up tougher than regular beef. I pressured the meat, carrot and water for about 20 minutes. After opening the cooker, I added all other ingredients, stirred and pressured another 10-15 minutes. Then I slightly thickened the liquid so it would bind with the meat. If you don’t own a pressure cooker, you can cook this with an ordinary large stew pot. doing so will, however, require more time in the first step for the meat to get fully tender.

INGREDIENTS:

1½ lb. boneless, cooked beef, cut in thick slices or large cubes (I used leftover grass-fed chuck roast)
1 medium carrot, grated
water to amply cover the meat and carrot (about 3 cups)
5 oz. onion, sliced or chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, sliced (seed for milder dish; leave seeds for more bite)
1/4 c. pimiento, sliced (fresh or type in a jar)
1 cloves garlic, minced
5 Roma tomatoes, chopped (or 1½ c. canned tomatoes, no-sugar added)
2 bay leaves
¼ tsp. each salt, black pepper, cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS: Cut up meat and place in cooking pot or pressure cooker. Add grated carrot and enough water to cover all ingredients well (about 3 cups). Cover and bring to a boil (or to pressure) and lower heat to simmer for about 45 minutes to an hour in a stew pot (20 minutes in a pressure cooker). Remove cover (run cold water over pressure cooker lid to release pressure and remove lid). Add all remaining ingredients, replace lid and bring to boil (pressure) once again and cook for about 20 minutes (10 minutes under pressure) or until veggies are just tender. Release pressure and lid and thicken slightly with your favorite thickener. When I was growing up, we would have had this over a bed of rice. But I I served this tonight on zucchini noodles, which was OK. But next time I think it would be better atop a good batch of mashed cauliflower.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: Makes 6 servings, each contains:

306 calories
11.8 g fat
6.83 g carbs, 1.7 g fiber, 5.13 g NET CARBS
40.42 g protein
186 mg sodium
441 mg potassium
18% RDA Vitamin A, 33% B6, 110% B12, 44% C, 9% E, 20% copper, 51% iron, 10% magnesium, 43% niacin, 37% phosphorous, 24% riboflavin, 82% selenium, 10% thiamin, 121% zinc