This is a hearty and healthy dish for the fall. Although it is a stew, it is thick enough with the rice to serve on a plate. The slow cook in the tomato sauce makes the beef fork tender. The warm spices and chickpeas, influences from the middle east, combine to make this a delicious meal. If you are pressed for time, you could simply add all of the ingredients to the slow cooker and let it do all of the work, but browning the beef and onion adds much to the flavor and is well worth the effort.
2 lb beef chuck, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 large onion, cut into wedges
½ cup wine
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
dried cilantro
8 cups cooked rice
Instructions
In a slow cooker, whisk together the tomato sauce, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper to taste.
Preheat a skillet and add some oil.
Season the beef with salt and pepper, then dredge in the flour. Brown the beef in the skillet in batches (don’t overcrowd your skillet) and then add the beef to the slow cooker, stirring to coat with the tomato sauce.
Quarter the onion and brown on each side in the skillet, add to the slow-cooker. The onions quarters will break up as they soften, that’s okay.
Deglaze the skillet with a ½ cup of wine and add this to the slow cooker.
Split the squash and remove the seeds. Cut the squash up into easy to handle pieces and remove the peel. Cut the squash up into bite sized pieces
Scatter the squash over the top in the slow cooker and season with salt and pepper.
Cover and cook until the beef is tender (7-8 hours on low, or 4-5 hours on high).
15 minutes before serving, fold the chickpeas into the stew and cook covered until heated through.
