Dude Ranch Stew

This started as a low-carb slow cooker recipe from The Everyday Low-Carb Slow Cooker Cookbook, but I've found I like it better on the cooktop (mostly because I'm not firing on all cylinders in the morning to toss this in a crockpot).

But it is easy-peasey to toss this together and just let it simmer. Even better, I almost always have the ingredients on hand.

The original recipe called for twice as much meat and a cup of cheddar cheese, and had no additional water, corn, or okra. (I've also upped the chili powder and cumin each from 1 tsp to 1 Tbsp because we like it spicier.)

Nutritional values for the original recipe were:

Calories: 398
Protein: 53g
Net Carbs: 11.5g
Fat: 11g
Cholesterol: 125mg
Sodium: 1,024mg

I like to think my changes below lowered the overall fat, cholesterol, sodium, and calories while upping the veg factor without adding too much on the carb side. I've been making this about once a week since the first time we tried it. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Dude Ranch Stew

Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour or more depending on your simmer time

Ingredients

1 pound round steak, cut into bite-sized pieces

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 4-ounce can diced green chilies

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 Tbsp ground cumin

2 cups beef broth (low-sodium if you can find it)

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 cube beef bouillon

2 cups water

1 15.5-ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

3 celery stalks, chopped

2 cups frozen white corn

2 cups frozen sliced okra

Directions

1. Heat a large soup pot on the stove over med-high heat and brown the steak. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 2–3 minutes.


2. Add the diced green chilies, chili powder, black pepper, and cumin and cook another 2–3 minutes.


3. Add beef broth, tomato paste, beef bouillon, kidney beans, and celery and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and add the frozen corn and okra about 15 minutes before serving.

The longer this stew simmers, the better it is, but, when pressed for time, I've served it after simmering only 30 minutes Scoob still loves it.