a slow-simmered beef and butternut squash stew with pear, ginger, garlic and thyme

This stew asks for 30 minutes of real attention and then lets you walk away. You brown the beef, build the base, and the other 90 minutes happen on their own while you do something else. In a week where the elimination phase has narrowed the menu down close to nothing, a pot like this is worth a lot: a little work up front, then several meals already sitting in the fridge.

Zinc and iron are doing real work in this bowl, both drawn from the beef, both minerals that matter when an immune system is settling down and a gut lining is being rebuilt. Vitamin A as beta-carotene comes from the squash's deep orange flesh, and the pears and cinnamon are there mostly to round the savory into something warmer than a plain beef stew. None of it fixes anything by itself. It is steady food, and steady counts for a lot right now.

Brown the beef properly, in batches so the pan stays hot. That patience at the start is where an animal like this earns being cooked right. Serve it in a wide bowl so you can actually see the orange squash and the pear against the broth, and let yourself sit with it before you dig in.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 2 to 3 pounds roast or stew meat, such as sirloin tip, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 2-inch piece ginger, minced
• 2 cups bone broth (clean-label)
• 1 butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 pears, chopped
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme

Method

Warm the coconut oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Brown the beef cubes in batches so the pan stays hot and the meat colors rather than steams, setting each batch aside as it is done. Crowding the pot keeps it from browning, so give the cubes room.

Lower the heat to medium and add the chopped onion to the same pot. Cook until it softens, then stir in the minced garlic and ginger and cook another minute until fragrant. Return the browned beef and its juices to the pot, pour in the bone broth, and bring it to a simmer. Cover and let it cook gently until the beef is starting to turn tender, around an hour to an hour and a half depending on the cut.

Add the cubed butternut squash, the cinnamon and the sea salt, and continue simmering until the squash is nearly tender, about fifteen to twenty minutes. Stir in the chopped pears and cook another ten minutes or so, until the squash is soft and the pear has melted into the broth without falling apart entirely.

While the stew finishes, saute the sliced mushrooms in a separate skillet until browned, then fold them into the pot along with the fresh thyme. Cooking the mushrooms apart keeps them from turning the whole stew gray and gives them a better texture. Taste, adjust the salt, and serve warm.

Instant Pot variation

To shorten the long simmer, brown the beef using the Saute function, then add the onion, garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant. Pour in the bone broth, scrape the bottom so nothing sticks, seal the lid and cook on high pressure for about 30 to 35 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally for ten minutes. Open the pot, switch back to Saute, add the squash, cinnamon and salt and cook until the squash softens, then stir in the pears for the last few minutes. Fold in the separately sauteed mushrooms and the thyme at the end as above. Treat the pressure timing as a starting point, since cut and cube size change how long the beef needs.

Notes

Cinnamon is a permitted AIP spice, so it stays. Choose a bone broth with a clean label, free of nightshade spices or other excluded additives. The stew is already AIP elimination compliant as written.

*Adapted from autoimmunewellness.com*