Orange Cinnamon Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 900 g grass-fed beef stew meat (cut into 1" cubes and patted dry)
• About 1/2 tsp salt + 1/2 tsp pepper (to sprinkle the meat)
• 2-3 tbsp coconut oil (for cooking)
• 1 medium onion (diced)
• 1 carrot (diced)
• 1 celery stalk (diced)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• the juice and zest of 1 orange (that’s about 1/2 cup of juice)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp fresh rosemary (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp fresh sage (finely chopped)
• 3-4 small rutabagas (spiralized)

Instructions

1. 1

   Preheat oven to 350F

2. 2

   Heat the coconut oil in a large Dutch Oven set over medium-high heat. Add the pieces of meat in a single layer, taking extra care to leave a good amount of space between them. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and sear the pieces of meat until they get nice and golden brown on all sides. Remove to a plate (you might have to work in several batches and add coconut oil as needed to prevent the Dutch oven from drying out)

3. 3

   Once all the pieces of meat have been browned and removed to a plate, add the onions, carrot, celery and garlic to the Dutch oven and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

4. 4

   Deglaze well with the orange juice then add zest, balsamic vinegar, water, salt, pepper, cinnamon and Bay leaves.

5. 5

   Place in the oven and bake for about 2 hours to 2½ hours, until the meat is super tender and almost falls apart.

6. 6

   Stir in rosemary, thyme and sage and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes.

7. 7

   While that is happening, place the spiralized rutabaga in a steaming basket, sprinkle with a little bit of salt and steam over boiling water for 3-5 minutes, until “al dente”.

8. 8

   Serve immediately (add a little drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil for a yummy boost of healthy fat)