Harvest Stew

It's October, and that always puts me in the mood for stew, soup, and chili.  I've been using this recipe for 15 years, and I still get an "Mmm, I love this stuff!" when Mike comes home and finds it on the stove.  The recipe is adapted from of all places, a cookbook called Jenny Craig's No Diet Required.  And it definitely does not taste like "Diet".  It tastes like Fall.  Enjoy!

Harvest Stew

1 1/2 pounds top round steak, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
Cooking Spray
2 (13.75 oz) cans low sodium beef broth
2 bay leaves
1 (14.5 oz) can no salt added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1 1/2 cups peeled cubed sweet potato
1 cup peeled, cubed butternut squash
1 cup peeled, cubed red potato
2 tsp beef flavored bouillon granules
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup water
3 tbls all-purpose flour

1.  Cook first 4 ingredients in a Dutch oven coated with cooking spray over medium heat until steak is browned, stirring often.  Drain.

2.  Return steak mixture to Dutch oven.  Add broth, bay leaves, and tomato.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour or until meat is tender.  Stir in sweet potato and next 6 ingredients.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 55 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove and discard bay leaves.

3.  Combine water and flour, stirring well.  Add to beef mixture, cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened.  Yields 6 (1 1/2 cup) servings.