My Best Beef Stew Ever is a SIBO Diet Friendly Recipe Too

This stew was excellent the first night; on the second night it was pronounced “the best I’ve ever had” by a girlfriend; on the third night the (normally leftover-averse) hubby was happy to slurp it down again–it just kept getting better and better.

Ingredients:

1-1/2 pounds grass fed beef stew meat (cut into 1-1/2” chunks)
Kosher salt
Coconut flour for dredging

3 rutabagas, peeled and chopped in larger (roughly 2”) chunks
4 carrots, chopped in 1” chunks
1/2 cup chopped fennel
1/3 cup peeled and diced celery root (and sprouted stalks if available)

1 tsp dried thyme leaves, divided
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp dried basil

1 cup leftover red wine (see note*)
1 quart of beef or chicken broth
1 small red pepper, diced
2 medium tomatoes, chopped in 1” pieces

1/2 cup brown lentils

Directions:

1.  Bring olive oil to medium heat in a large frying pan.
2.  Sprinkle kosher salt over stew meat, and dredge in coconut flour.
3.  Fry stew meat in batches (so the pieces aren’t crowded, which will cause them to steam instead of fry), turning often to ensure the coconut flour doesn’t get too dark (coconut flour browns quickly). Remove pieces to a plate as they are done.
4.  As you’re frying the meat, prepare the vegetables (rutabagas, fennel, celery root, carrots, peppers and tomatoes).
5. Place most of the vegetables (hold the red peppers and tomatoes for now) into the bottom of your crockpot, on high heat, and sprinkle half of the dried thyme over the vegetables.
6.  Once all the meat is cooked, add to your crockpot on top of the vegetables (along with any juices that have accumulated on the plate).
7.  Add the remaining dried thyme, allspice, basil, wine, and beef broth to the crockpot (distributing over the meat).
8.  Add red pepper and tomatoes on top of everything, put on the lid, and cook at high for 4-5 hours.
9.  Roughly 1/2 to 1 hour before serving, add the lentils, stirring them down into the pot juices, cover the pot again and turn to low heat.

To serve:  remove the celery stalks if you included them, and sprinkle with chopped parsley (although I’m always so hungry that I forget to run outside to snip parsley for the photo). 😉

*A note about old red wine:
If by some strange chance you’ve got red wine left over at the end of your dinner with friends, put the cork back in the bottle, put it in the pantry, and forget about it for a while (I’ve used old wine that’s been stored like this for over a year). Not only does red wine contain very little of the sugar that is a risk in SIBO diets, but aging it like this reduces that risk even more. Why save it? Old / “spoiled” red wine (aka high end red wine vinegar) adds excellent depth of flavor!