Recipe: California Prune, beef and barley stew

This comforting stew is nutrient-dense with a high mineral content. Developed by registered dietitian Jo Travers BSc RD MBDA, it’s packed with vegetables and the prunes add a bone-friendly twist.

You don’t need to add any extra carbohydrate to this recipe thanks to the barley content, which means this is a complete meal in itself. Learn more about the vitamins and minerals we need to maintain healthy bones in our Nutrition section now.

Recipe

Makes: 4 portions
Cooking time: 2 hours in the oven or 4 hours in the slow cooker

Ingredients

• 400g diced beef
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 200g mushrooms, cut into quarters
• 3 cloves of chopped garlic
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 8 California Prunes, halved
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 1 bay leaf 400ml water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 red onion
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 400ml stout or low sodium beef stock
• 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• 200g pearl barley
• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C or use a slow cooker.
2. In a large frying pan, heat the oil and when it's hot fry the beef over a high heat until browned all over. You don’t need to cook it at this point, just get some flavour on the outside.
3. When it's brown, put the beef into your slow cooker pot or into an oven-proof casserole dish.
4. Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms, and onion to the beef pan and turn the heat down so that they gently fry for about 5 minutes.
5. Pour in a little of the stout to deglaze the pan, stirring and scraping up all the flavour.
6. Transfer the vegetables and all the rest of the ingredients to your slow cooker or casserole dish along with the beef.
7. Cook in the oven for 2 hours or cook on high in the slow cooker for 4 hours.
8. Halfway through the cooking time, add the barley and the water, give it a quick stir and put the lid back on to continue cooking.

Find more bone-friendly recipes now at californiaprunes.org/recipes