Cuban Beef Stew

Serve Cuban Beef Stew over cooked rice or cooked rice and beans. Seeded and diced fresh jalapeño peppers can be substituted for the canned chilies.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef chuck roast
• 1 large onion, peeled and diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 4 strips bacon, chopped
• 1 (7-ounce) can green chilies, minced and drained
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1 cup tomato juice
• Salt, to taste
• ¾ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 3 large sweet potatoes

1. Trim the beef of any fat and cut into 1-inch cubes. Add it to the slow cooker along with all of the other ingredients except for the sweet potatoes. Stir to mix.
2. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes in half; add to the top of the other ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until the beef is tender.

Sweet Potato Choices

You can either serve a half slow-cooked sweet potato with each serving of the Cuban Beef Stew or, if you’ve added the sweet potato halves as instructed, cut them into cubes after they’ve cooked and carefully stir them into the stew. If you want sweet potatoes cubes that remain firm enough to stir into the stew without the risk of them falling apart, peel and dice the sweet potatoes and wait to stir them into the stew until the final 2 or 3 hours of the cooking time.