Beef, Vegetable and Feta Medley

This week we were aiming for low carb healthy dinners to help us fight the rising waistline situation we have going on around here. I was planning to make my old favourite side salad which I haven't had in yonks with various meats for the week. Unfortunately, I forgot to buy all the ingredients. Then I couldn't face a cold side salad on a Winter's night.  This meal eventuated out of slowly changing my mind about what I wanted to make (multiple times along the way), and oh my gosh it ended up so yum.  I've made it twice now, and found it is equally tasty making it a simpler way in the second attempt. First go I had two nights worth of cheap steaks and had decided to cook up a veggie side stew. Then I chopped the meat, sealed and stirred it through toward the end. Second time around I just bought a 500g pack of diced beef and added it just after the onions and garlic. Of course the steak meat was a little tastier (and medium rare) but it was much simpler to just throw everything  in early on and leave it go.  Plus the meat is tender and slow cooked this way.  As much as this sounds like a hodge-podge meal from how I am describing it, let me assure you that this meal made on instinct is absolutely fabulous. It is totally healthy - just meat and veg and seasonings. Plus it is low cal, high protein, low fat and low carb. What else could you hope for? Of course you can serve it on rice which will add carbs and make it last six rather than four serves, but we were more than happy with this as a stand alone dish. This is a new regular!

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 500g diced beef
• 200g grape/cherry tomatoes
• 1 red and 1 green capsicum, diced
• 1 red onion, sliced thinly (omit if low FODMAP, swap with finely diced celery and  1/2 tsp of onion infused oil)
• 1 clove garlic, minced (or 1/2 tsp garlic infused olive oil for a low FODMAP option)
• 2 tsp Greek Yiros Seasoning (We recently started buying Henry Langdon's Greek Yiros seasoning mix from our local IGA, but if you want to make your own I found a good recipe here at one of my favourite food blogs)
• 1 cup water
• 100g feta, diced into 1cm squares
• 100g baby spinach
• salt and pepper, to taste
• Fresh parsley, to serve

Method

1. In a large saucepan, fry red onion on medium-high heat until slightly translucent.
2. Add garlic, stir until fragrant, then add beef and brown
3. Add Greek yiros seasoning,  mix through ingredients for approx 1 minute.
4. Add tomatoes, red and green capsicum and water, stir.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer (lid on) for 30 minutes.
6. Remove lid, simmer for 30 more minutes or until reduced to your liking.  Just prior to serving, wilt spinach through the mix, then add feta. 
7. Remove from heat and serve, topped with parsley. Bask in deliciousness.

Nutritional Breakdown

Per serving:

• Calories                                   236.8
• Total Fat10.4 g
• Saturated Fat5.5 g
• Polyunsaturated Fat0.4 g
• Monounsaturated Fat3.1 g
• Cholesterol93.5 mg
• Sodium348.1 mg
• Potassium546.9 mg
• Total Carbohydrate8.7 g
• Dietary Fiber2.3 g
• Sugars5.0 g
• Protein33.3 g