Adding culturally diverse foods to your menu can seriously change up the flavour of your week. We love any excuse to use our slow cooker, and this recipe by former editor of Good Health magazine, Yasemin Trollope has us excited to go home and prepare.
Having a Turkish father has given me the gift of knowing all about amazing, exotic food. This man is a maestro in the kitchen and often whips up meals that make everyone smile with delight. With a wonderful mix of greens and spices and rich tomato sauce, all tied together with lovely pieces of beef, it ticks all the health boxes while offering bags of flavour.
I’ve made some modern-day adjustments to factor in the likes of my wholefood kitchen, including switching pilaf for a bed of raw kale and choosing grass fed beef over mince. That said, good quality mince would also work really well with this dish.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 kg of good quality grass fed beef blade or chuck steak, fat removed and cut into cubes
4 cooking tomatoes, peeled and chopped into cubes (or 1 large can of cooked tomatoes)
2.5 teaspoons each of smoked paprika, cumin, ground coriander, oregano
1 large bunch of spinach, washed and cut. Keep the stalks as well, they work a treat in the dish.
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 brown onions, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup of water
1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
1 bunch of kale, chopped very finely, stalks removed
Method
1 Throw your onion and garlic into a large, heavy bottom saucepan on medium heat. Leave to sweat for about 5 minutes.
2 Now, toss your meat cubes in and brown off.
3 Add your spices and salt and pepper to the onions, garlic and meat and cook for a few more minutes, before adding your tomatoes and a cup of water. The liquid should just cover all the meat and onions.
4 Bring back to the boil and turn down to low heat, cover, and cook for about 3-4 hours. The slow cooking makes the meat melt in your mouth and is so worth waiting for. Alternately, you can throw this dish in a pressure cooker to speed up the process, or in a slow cooker before you head off to work.
5 Once your meat is soft, add the carrots and spinach and cook for another 30 minutes, leaving the lid off for the remainder of the cooking time. This just lets it reduce a little.
6 Finally, squeeze in your lemon and serve on a bed of raw kale, brown rice or baked eggplant.
This simple recipe is sure to get your tastebuds dancing with joy. Try it!
Feature image via pinterest
