Healthful Meals in Hearty Stews

If a hot, nourishing meal is desired but you don’t feel like spending hours in the kitchen, a deliciously warm meat stew can provide an easy solution. Just combine a favorite meat with standard vegetables like onions, potatoes and carrots plus some additional vegetables your family enjoys--green beans, zucchini or tomatoes.

No-Peek Stew is a one-pot, full-course meal that cooks almost by itself. It features tender, meaty turkey thighs smothered with carrots, onions, potatoes and sliced celery. After a leisurely cooking, serve this aromatic dinner with a tossed green salad and thick slices of crusty bread to make it a feast.

Start With Pork and Beans

Beaniful Stew is a combination of pork, beans, onions, sweet red peppers, Brussels sprouts and mushrooms. The pork loin cubes are simmered with the vegetables, then flavorful pork and beans are added at the last minute to provide a boost of fiber. This full-textured stew is nutritious as well as pleasing to the eye and the palate.

Kielbasa-Bean Stew, another medley of ingredients, features chunks of the smoked sausage with onions, potatoes, carrots and peppers, which blend with the beans to create a savory taste everyone will enjoy.

NO-PEEK STEW

3 1/2 pounds turkey thighs

1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed chicken broth

2 cups sliced onions

2 cups sliced celery

2 cups diagonally sliced carrots

4 cups sliced potatoes, 3/4 inch thick

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves, crumbled

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons cold water

Place turkey thighs in large Dutch oven and add broth. Arrange onions, celery, carrots and potatoes over turkey and sprinkle with salt, thyme and pepper.

Cover tightly and bake at 300 degrees about 3 hours or until meat is tender. Remove turkey and vegetables. Skim off and discard any fat from cooking liquid in pan. Combine cornstarch with cold water. Stir into liquid and simmer, stirring constantly, until liquid boils and thickens slightly. Return turkey and vegetables to hot liquid until ready to serve. Makes 6 servings.

Note: Nutrient data is given for boned thighs.

PER SERVING: 556 calories; 68 gm protein; 28 gm carbohydrate; 18 gm fat; 936 mg sodium; 1,608 mg potassium.

USRDA

Protein 105% Vitamin A 119% Vitamin C 51% Thiamine 16% Riboflavin 34% Niacin 56% Calcium 08% Iron 36%

BEANIFUL STEW

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound boneless pork loin, cut into 1-inch pieces

3 (6-ounce) cans vegetable juice cocktail

2 small onions, quartered

2 sweet red peppers, cut into 1/2-inch strips

1 (10-ounce) package frozen Brussels sprouts

1/2 pound mushrooms, halved

2 medium cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 (16-ounce) cans pork and beans

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

Heat olive oil in 6-quart saucepan over medium heat. Brown pork in oil about 5 minutes. Add juice cocktail, onions, sweet red peppers, Brussels sprouts, mushrooms, garlic, sugar, cinnamon and cloves.

Heat to boiling, then reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in pork and beans and cook 5 minutes longer, stirring occasionally. Stir in vinegar. Makes 7 servings.

PER SERVING: 413 calories; 21 gm protein; 32 gm carbohydrate; 23 gm fat; 707 mg sodium; 922 mg potassium.

USRDA

Protein 32% Vitamin A 37% Vitamin C 150% Thiamine 51% Riboflavin 24% Niacin 30% Calcium 09% Iron 27%

KIELBASA-BEAN STEW

1 pound kielbasa (smoked pork sausage), cut into 1-inch pieces

1/3 cup water

6 small onions, cut in halves

4 small new potatoes, quartered

3 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium green pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

3/4 cup vegetable juice cocktail

2 (16-ounce) cans pork and beans

Bring sausage and water to boil over medium heat in 6-quart saucepan. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes or until sausage is browned. Remove sausage and set aside.

In same pan, cook onions, potatoes, carrots and green pepper until vegetables are browned, stirring occasionally.

Stir in juice cocktail and sausage. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 10 minutes. Stir in pork and beans and cook 10 minutes longer to blend. Makes 8 servings.

PER SERVING: 481 calories; 14 gm protein; 37 gm carbohydrate; 31 gm fat; 919 mg sodium; 781 mg potassium.

USRDA

Protein 21% Vitamin A 66% Vitamin C 59% Thiamine 29% Riboflavin 12% Niacin 17% Calcium 08% Iron 19%