This is an excellent method for making gravy.  Many people don’t like the extra calories and fat of traditional gravies because they require butter or oil and flour to thicken.  That adds gluten, fat, calories, etc to your sauce that you just don’t need.  Here I show you how to make a roast beef with a veggie-thickened gravy.  The secret is that veggies have matter.  And that veggie matter can be suspended in a liquid to thicken a gravy.  This is basically the same trick you use when making some veggie soups.  Some soups need other thickeners, but some others don’t.  So here the gravy is nothing but the roast beef cooking liquid and the veggies.  It’s rich, and sweet, and thick, and full of flavor.  And it’s a great base if you want to expand on it with cream, curry, coconut milk, or something like that.  Hey, I said this was healthy, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep it that way.  But adding curry to this would be a great variation.

This can also be done with many more veggies than the ones I used.  I merely picked the most basic ones to show you how to do it.  After this, the rest is up to you.  I’ll probably post some others as I make them so don’t worry, I’ll give you ideas as well as time goes on.

Here’s the basic outline:

1. Trip and cut beef into medium to large cubes.
2. Season with salt, black pepper.
3. Sear until dark brown in a good pan, I prefer cast iron for this.
4. Add 2 large onions, and several large carrots. This should be enough to cover the meat and possibly go to the top of the pot.
5. Add thyme, bay leaves, a couple cloves and a few garlic cloves.
6. Cover with water.
7. Put the lid on and bake at 300-F for a couple hrs.  It may take longer. Leave it in until the meat falls apart when you pinch it with tongs or press it with the edge of a fork.
8. Remove the meat, and herbs and the cloves if you can find them.
9. Puree the veggies with a stick blender until completely smooth.
10. Season to taste and add anything extra you like (cream, coconut milk, etc.)
11. Add meat back and serve with mashed potatoes, pasta, whatever.

This is an excellent recipe, and an excellent method for making a wonderful gravy that’s extremely healthy.  And if you have too much gravy left over, then the gravy also doubles as a soup.  Just get some bread and go to town.