Healthy Beef Recipes for Dinner Tonight

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My mother's homemade steak and kidney pie has been a great personal favourite of mine for many years and it is a dish I have always resisted the temptation to tamper with. When the idea for this version came to me, however, I knew it was something I had to try. I hope you will give it a go yourself and be as delighted with the results as I was.

For two people, you will require:

1lb (450g) of steak (diced)
1lb (450g) of ox kidneys (cleaned and diced)
1 small onion (halved then sliced)
1 pint (550ml) of fresh beef stock (a recipe can be found further down this page)
1/2 pint (275ml) of full bodied red wine
1 tbsp of plain flour
1/2 tsp of dried thyme
1/2lb (225g) of puff pastry
1 small egg for glazing (beaten)
1lb (450g) of potatoes (peeled and chunked)
Handful of flat leafed parsley (roughly chopped)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
2 tbsp of frozen peas
Olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper

Put the flour in to a large bowl and season well with pepper. Add the beef and the kidney and mix well, ensuring each piece is coated. In a large, non-stick pan, put a drizzle of olive oil, bring up to a heat and brown the meat, adding the onion for the last minute. Pour in the stock and wine and add the thyme. Bring up to a simmer and continue to simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the stock is lush and thick and the meat tender. A "skin" may form and re-form on the top which is simply impurities from the kidneys and should be carefully skimmed off and discarded.

Put your oven on to preheat to 200 degrees centigrade or equivalent then roll out the pastry on a floured board until it is big enough to cover a ten inch (25cm) long, rectangular pie dish. Spoon the meat in to the dish and lightly grease the edges with some butter. Put the pastry on top, crimp down the edges and trim it to size with a knife. Glaze with the beaten egg then cut a small cross in the centre of the pastry to allow the steam to escape. Place in to the oven for half an hour.

Put the potatoes on to boil in lightly salted water for about twenty-five minutes. Mash them and add the parsley and crushed garlic, ensuring to stir them through well. Cook the peas for two to three minutes in boiling water dependant upon the instructions on the packet and plate up what is an outstandingly delicious meal.

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This is an incredibly simple recipe which unfortunately has a lengthy cooking time because of the beef. Why not therefore cook the beef the night before you intend having the dish and simply refrigerate it? Note also that this recipe assumes that approximately one third of the cooked beef will be reserved in order to make Scotch Broth, my recipe for which appears further down this page.

For two people, you will require:

2 lbs (900g) piece of rolled brisket of beef
2 shallots (peeled and roughly chopped)
4 cloves of garlic (peeled and roughly chopped)
2 carrots (scraped and roughly chopped)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp of fresh or dried thyme leaves

10 small baby new potatoes (washed, whole and unpeeled)
2 handfuls of fresh rocket leaves
4 closed cup mushrooms (quartered downwards through the stalk)
2 tsp of horseradish sauce
Salt/freshly ground black pepper

Into a large soup pan, place the beef, shallots, garlic, carrots and herbs and add enough boiling water to fully cover the beef and come to within one inch (2.5 cm) of the rim of the pan. Bring back to the boil and reduce to the lowest possible simmer. The general rule when cooking brisket this way is to cook for about 40 mins per pound and another 40 thereafter. On this occasion, that would be a cooking time of about two hours but I am deliberately cooking it for an extra half hour to an hour as remember it has to be "shredded," not sliced.

Remove the beef from the pan and set the pan aside overnight to cool as this is the stock for our soup. Allow the beef to cool then shred it with two forks in to bite sized strips, remembering to reserve approximately one third of it. Boil the potatoes for about 25 minutes in lightly salted water then drain well and combine in a large bowl with the beef, rocket, mushrooms and horseradish sauce. Stir all the ingredients together, season to taste and serve.

Referring to the Shredded Beef Salad recipe above, the following day, a film of fat and impurities should have formed over the top of your cooled stock. Taking a large spoon, gently and carefully skim this off and discard. Take a few minutes to do this properly, being careful not to stir the stock in the process. Sieve your stock then in to a large bowl to remove all the vegetable parts from the day before which should also be thrown away. Wash out your pot and return the liquid stock to it.

The subsequent ingredients for Day Two are as follows:

2 carrots (one grated and one diced)
1 parsnip (scraped and diced)
Reserved brisket remnants from previous day
1 cup of barley (can also be a mixture of barley, lentils and split peas)
Large handful of fresh parsley (roughly chopped)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring your stock to the boil and add the beef, carrots, parsnip and barley and simmer for at least an hour and a half, adding the parsley five minutes before the end of the cooking time. Season to taste and enjoy.

Note that this soup is generally better the second day when the flavours have had more chance to infuse and also that it freezes very well in portion sized, plastic containers.

This is a recipe which I came up with while in one of my creative culinary moods and am pleased to say it turned out even better than expected on the first occasion. It is both every bit as delicious as it looks and extremely simple to prepare.

You will need, per person:

1/2 lb (225g) of preferably shin of beef, but stewing steak will suffice (one-inch cubed)
400g tin of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
3 closed cup mushrooms (quartered)
1 small onion (halved then sliced)
3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
Large handful of flat-leafed parsley (roughly chopped)
8 to 10 basil leaves (roughly torn)
1 small red chilli pepper (deseeded and finely chopped)
1 tbsp plain flour
Salt/freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 tbsp olive oil

Put the flour in to a mixing bowl and season well with black pepper only. Pop in your beef and stir well until all the beef is well coated. In a large - preferably non-stick - saucepan, heat up your olive oil then seal the beef in it. Carefully spoon the beef out on to a plate and sweat down the garlic and onion on a gentle heat for a few minutes, to soften but not colour them. Re-add your beef and all remaining ingredients except the salt. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours on as low a heat as possible, stirring frequently. Taste a bit of the beef to ensure it is tender, then season with salt, garnish with a bit more parsley and serve with a chunk of freshly baked bread, or some boiled new potatoes.

There are obviously a great many types of beef, from the various steak types to brisket, silverside, shin and many more. This can therefore become a little confusing when we are looking to purchase a piece of beef in order to make a particular dish.

Click here for a fantastic, handy chart and guide which will help you determine precisely what you need the next time you go shopping for beef.

Chilli, as it is often simply referred to, is made in countless different fashions around the world. Everybody has their own favourite recipe and strength at which they like this dish served. What has in the past often put me off the dish is when I read through recipes and find ingredients such as sugar, tomato puree (with all its chemical enhancements) and a whole host of other most unhealthy substances being called for. There is no need for them! Take a look through what I have included then try it out for yourself. I hope you enjoy it as much as I regularly do.

This recipe is for two hungry people:

1lb (450g) of lean minced/ground steak
1 medium onion (roughly chopped)
5 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1 green and 1 red Bell Pepper (deseeded and sliced)
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 400g tin of red kidney beans in water*
3 small red chilli peppers (deseeded and finely chopped)
1 tsp of cumin powder
Salt/freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp freshly chopped coriander (known as cilantro in US) plus a little extra for garnishing
5oz (150g) of basmati or long grain rice

Brown the beef in a large pot then add the onion and garlic to sweat off for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes, chillis, kidney beans, peppers, cumin and seasoning and bring up to a gentle simmer. After forty to forty-five minutes, add the coriander and stir well for a couple of minutes. Serve on a bed of fluffy rice - cooked per the guidelines on the packet - and garnish with the remaining coriander.

* Note that I have used tinned red kidney beans here. If you are going to do likewise, try to get them only in water - not water, sugar and salt, or any kind of sauce. Place them in a large sieve and rinse them thoroughly under running cold water to remove as many of the artificial chemicals as possible prior to use. If using dried beans, be sure to steep them for the required period of time as advised on the packet.

The Chinese method of stir frying food has long been recognised as an extremely quick, efficient and healthy manner in which to prepare meats and vegetables alike. The essential vitamins and minerals are not lost in a long, slow simmer and vegetables in particular remain crisp and fresh, almost as they were in their raw form.

For this quick and simple recipe, per person you will need:

1 lean slice of frying steak (cut into 1/2"/1cm wide strips)
1 green bell pepper (deseeded and cut into 1/2"/1cm strips)
2 or 3 small button mushrooms (coarsely chopped)
12 unsalted pistachio nuts (ground in pestle and mortar)
1 medium sized onion (coarsely chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
Dark soy sauce
10 or 12 turns of freshly ground black pepper
Sesame oil for frying
Salt to taste
Torn basil leaves to garnish
3oz (75g) of basmati rice

Put the rice on to boil as per the instructions on the packet.

Bring a wok up to a very high heat then add the sesame oil and the strips of steak. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the onions and the garlic and cook for another minute before adding the remainder of the ingredients. Cook until heated through and serve immediately on a bed of the rice, remembering to sprinkle the torn basil leaves as a garnish.