Bison Stew

While wandering around the Union Square Farmer’s Market in search of something unique to cook, we stumbled upon someone selling a bison london broil.  So we went for it! I had no idea how to cook bison correctly, but I found a recipe for stew that sounded phenom.

Bison is healthier than beef as it is very low in fat.  I figured what better way to eat stew than a low fat version filled with veggies?

First, we cubed the steak and coated it in (whole wheat) flour.  Then we browned it in the cast iron pot (how did I ever live without this thing?) and then stored it in the lid.

Then we cut up a whole bunch of veggies that sounded good (we went with onions, mushrooms, carrots, swiss chard stems, and dikon)

Threw the veggies into the pot that originally browned the meat and let them soften a bit.

Put everything back together in one pot.

Then added some liquids.  We went chicken stock, tomato sauce, a can of fire roasted tomatoes with liquid (seemed like an easy trade for V8 juice), and red wine.

Then we let it simmer… and simmer… and simmer.   (In between, I went in and scraped up the yummy stuff from the bottom of the pan and mixed it in).  Cooking in liquid like this makes it tender.  After about two hours, it was delish!

We paired it with some delicious wilted rainbow swiss chard.

The daikon actually wound up tasting like roasted potatoes.  Delicious!

The recipe was easy, hearty, and incredibly filling.  We used nearly two pounds of bison meat and wound up with at least six meals.  Each serving (1 of 6) was ~6.5 points from my estimation.  I hear it freezes well too!

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RECIPES
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Ingredients:

• ~2 pounds of bison london broil, cubed
• 2 Tbl. Olive oil
• Flour (whole wheat if you like it a little healthier)
• Carrots, sliced (we used 2 large)
• Daikon, sliced (2 large)
• Onion, sliced (1 big onion)
• Swiss chard stems, sliced (from one bunch)
• 6 cloves garlic
• 2 cups Red wine (the recipe called for burgundy, but we went with boxed!)
• 1 can Broth (beef is probably better, but we went reduced fat chicken broth)
• 1 can V-8 Juice (we substituted with canned fire roasted tomatoes and their juice)
• 1 Tbl. Oregano
• 1 Tbl. Italian Seasoning
• 1 Tbl. Parsley
• Bay Leaf
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Mushrooms, sliced (~2 cups)

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot (cast iron works best in my opinion)
2. While oil heats, coat cubes of bison in flour (mix in a bowl or add all to a zip lock back and shake)
3. Brown bison on all sides, stirring frequently
4. Remove bison from pot
5. Add all vegetables and garlic to pot except mushrooms (or any other very soft veggie that won’t stand up to long liquid cooking)
6. Sautee over medium heat until a bit soft
7. Return meat to pot
8. Add liquids to pot and add spices
9. Scrape up the meaty bits from the bottom of the pot
10. Simmer everything for about an hour, continuing to scrape and stir
11. Stir in mushrooms and any other soft veggies
12. Simmer for another hour until meat is tender
13. Remove bay leaf and adjust seasoning to your liking

Tags: bison stew, weight watchers, weight watchers points, weight watchers recipe