~From Better Homes and Gardens Simple Slow Cooker Recipes~
Don’t be scared of this one because of the name; it’s actually pretty ‘normal’.
I left out the onions, apricots, and cayenne pepper–because I didn’t have them and I hate onions. Those ingredients could have been what filled in the holes, since there seemed to be something missing, but the cinnamon was amazing! I doubled it to a fourth teaspoon. Everything I left out is in [parentheses], just for reference. I did add dried red pepper flakes, about three hefty pinches, but didn’t find that much heat in the dish.
I think it might do well to double the sweet potatoes and maybe add another vegetable. I wouldn’t want to ruin the ‘North African’ part of the dish until I figure out what would compliment it. I’ll do some research and update accordingly.
Ingredients
~6 Servings
• 1.5 lbs lean beef stew meat
• 2 [or 4] medium sweet potatoes, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced to .5 inch thick
[• 1 medium onion, cut into wedges]
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp instant beef bouillon granules
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
[• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper]
• [1/8] tsp cinnamon
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can of 14.5 diced tomatoes, undrained
[• 1/2 cup apricots, quartered]
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts
Couscous served hot
1) Cut meat into one inch pieces. In a ~4 quart slow cooker, add meat, sweet potatoes, and onion. Stir in water, bouillon granules, cumin, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and garlic.
2) Cover and cook on low setting for 7.5 to 8.5 hours or high for 3.5 to 4 hours. Stir in tomatoes and dried apricots. Cover and cook for half an hour more.
3) Serve over hot couscous, or in my case, rice. Sprinkle with crushed peanuts.
I think the rice might have overpowered the dish a little. Couscous would be the better choice since it’s lighter. The peanuts added a nice crunch, so we upped the 1/4 of a cup to 1/2 a cup. I used salted peanuts as well, since there wasn’t really any additional salt added elsewhere.
I tried plain ramen for the second round and it seemed to work well.
If you try this recipe and can think of anything that would enhance it, let me know!
Thanks for visiting!
