Beef Cubes With Roasted Carrots And Mushrooms

You could probably come up with a really fancy name for this recipe if you wanted to, but it really doesn’t need one – the whole point is a simple, no-fuss meal that doesn’t need to play dress-up. Slow-braised beef chuck with some simple seasonings takes a while to cook, but the actual prep is very fast, and it goes perfectly with a plate of simple roasted vegetables.

To add some color to the recipe, go for a bunch of rainbow carrots (those are the ones that come in orange, yellow, and purple, and sometimes even red) – they all taste basically the same, but the visual effect is great.

This is a great recipe for budget-conscious cooks, because chuck is one of the cheaper cuts of beef, even grass-fed. It’s not great for cooking at high temperatures like a steak, but when you braise it like this, it gets delicious and tender and it’s just as tasty as the more expensive cuts. And you can use it for leftovers, too; try cooking double and just “serving” half of it directly to your lunchbox for tomorrow. It’s barely a minute of extra work, and you’ll have a healthy lunch all ready to go in the morning.

Beef Cubes With Roasted Carrots And Mushrooms Recipe

SERVES: 4 PREP: 20 min. COOK: 3 h.

Ingredients

• 3 lb. beef chuck, cut into cubes
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup beef stock
• Cooking fat
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for the roasted carrots and mushrooms

• 8 oz. carrots, sliced
• 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tbsp. melted cooking fat
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 250 F.
2. Season the beef cubes to taste with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
3. Melt some cooking fat in a Dutch oven or ovenproof pan over a medium-high heat.
4. Brown the beef cubes on all sides for 1 to 2 minutes, remove, and set aside.
5. Cook the garlic, and onion for 2 minutes or until fragrant.
6. Add the beef stock and stir to scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
7. Return the beef to the Dutch oven, cover, and place in the oven.
8. Cook the beef in the preheated oven for about 3 hours, keeping an eye on it for the final 30 minutes.
9. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the roasted vegetables.
10. Place the vegetables on a roasting pan.
11. Roast the vegetables during the last 15 minutes of the beef cooking process.
12. Serve the meat cubes with the roasted vegetables.