Turkish Meat and Winter Vegetable Stew (p. 440)

So, yes, this is a winter recipe, and it is definitely not winter. But we've had a bit of a cold snap (it was only in the 80s today) and I have to finish this cookbook before baby arrives in September, so a winter stew in summer it is.

I did have to replace some of the wintery ingredients with more summery ones, and the celery root and leeks that were called for in the original recipe got scrapped in favor of a nice summer squash from my CSA.

You can use lamb or beef for this recipe, and I chose beef, cutting it into small pieces and sautéing in olive oil until thoroughly browned. Then goes in the chopped onion -- I used half red onion and half white, because that's what I had in my fridge leftover from an earlier recipe this week. Once the onions are softened, add a little salt and some flour and combine.

Pour in chicken stock and cook for about 20 minutes at a nice low simmer.

While my timer counted down, I did a whole lot of peeling and chopping -- the potatoes, carrots, and summer squash were all prepped and ready to be tossed into the stew along with some more stock.

The soup doesn't require a lot of seasoning, just some dried thyme and black pepper did the trick. Cook until the veggies are done, and then serve.

This was lovely. The flavors were really fresh, and although I was at first worried that there wasn't a ton of meat in my bowl, I quickly found that it didn't really need it. I ate this with some delicious Challah bread and was one happy camper. I'll be looking forward to this for lunch the next couple of days.

squash -- $1.83 (CSA price)

potatoes -- $3.67 (CSA price)

chicken stock -- $3.99

beef -- $2.69

Total Cost of Turkish Meat and Winter Vegetable Stew: $12.18

($3.05 per serving)