• 250 ml dried white beans
• 10 ml olive or canola oil
• 750 g stewing beef on the bone, cut into cubes, and excess fat removed
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 celery stalks with the leaves, thinly sliced
• 4 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
• 15 ml grated fresh ginger
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 20 ml dried mixed herbs
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 ℓ strong Rooibos tea
• 3 ripe tomatoes, cubed
• 300 g cauliflower, cut into florets
• 2 large spinach leaves, cut into strips
• lemon juice and black pepper to taste
• 45 ml chopped fresh parsley

Serving size:  4
Preparation Time: 3 hours

Soaking the beans overnight takes some planning, but worth the wait for a hearty family meal.

1. Place beans in a large bowl and cover with 3 cups (750 ml) cold water. Soak overnight, drain and rinse.
2. Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the meat until brown. Spoon out.
3. Fry onions, celery and carrots in the pot for a few minutes. Add ginger, garlic, dried herbs, cloves and bay leaves and fry for another few minutes.
4. Add the beans, meat, salt and tea and stir through. Simmer with a lid for 1½-2 hours or until the meat and beans are cooked.
5. Stir in the tomatoes, cauliflower and spinach and simmer with a lid for 15-20 minutes or until just cooked. Add more tea, if necessary. Season with lemon juice and pepper and stir in the parsley.
6. Serve with a green salad or lightly cooked green veggies, if preferred. The beans and veggies provide enough carbs and this casserole does not have to be served on another starch – perfect when you need to manage the carbs in your meals.

Tips

1. If you are short on time, use tinned beans. Cook the meat and veggies as above, without the beans. Add 1 x 410 g tin butter beans, drained in step 5.
2. Make sure that you cut the meat into small cubes so that it cooks at the same time as the beans.
3. Note that the carb key is close to the range of ‘bowl 2’. See page 30 for more detail on the carb key.

* Allow for soaking time

Recipe by Pharma Dynamics
Cooking from the heart