If you are looking for a reason to pull out your slow cooker for the season. Here are my top 4 reasons:
#1 Sometimes even my best laid plans to make dinner get foiled. Prepping dinner first thing in the morning is sometimes easier!
#2 You’ll have an answer to the “What’s for dinner?” question anytime it’s asked.
#3 There’s nothing better than coming home to the smell of something delicious cooking!
#4 You haven’t tried Moroccan Beef Stew!!!
Today’s Moroccan Beef Stew is a recipe I found in Real Simple magazine a few years ago. Formerly called ‘Spicy Braised Beef with Sweet Potatoes’, the only thing I changed was the title and removing the added salt. It is absolutely delicious thanks to the slow cooked flavors from common tagine spices like cumin, ginger and cinnamon. And, the color of this meal is stunning: orange sweet potatoes, green spinach, and red tomatoes. Color is a great indicator of a nutritionally dense meal (when colors come from fruits and vegetables and not from Starbursts or Skittles). There are already many yummy Myplate2yours slow cooker recipes to try, but this is one of my favorites.
Slow Cooker Moroccan Beef Stew (serves 6)
©myplate2yours
1 pound beef chuck/stew meat, cut into chunks
2 sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1, 28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 large red onion, cut into wedges
1/2 cup dried apricots
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne
1, 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
2 cups baby spinach
1 1/2 cups dry whole wheat couscous
Prepare slow cooker with cooking spray. Combine beef, potatoes, tomatoes (and juices), onion, apricots, 1/2 cup water and four spices. Cook on high until meat is tender, 4-5 hours or on low 6-8 hours. Ten minutes before serving, prepare couscous according to package directions for 6 servings. When ready to serve, stir in chickpeas and spinach. Serve with couscous. Enjoy!