Beef Heart Stew...Don't Run Away just yet!

Beef heart, you say?
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Please don’t run away just yet!

Hear me out!
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When I started reintroducing meat back into my diet after being vegetarian/vegan for over 22 years, I did so with intention and purpose. My reason in making this change was to improve my own health, but I also remained deeply concerned with animal health & welfare.

​Along with this, I recognized the environmental impact of food systems, and my aim was to avoid waste where ever I could. Organ meats were once a prized commodity, and valued for their nutrition. Today, many Westerners feel organ meats are repulsive, and some butchers have a hard time selling them even at a low cost.  While I too am not a huge fan of the taste of many organ meats, I still wanted to try and work them into my diet as I know how nutrient dense, they are, and like the idea of using parts of the animal that may get wasted. Enter the beef heart. While heart is considered an organ meat, it tastes and feels more like muscle meat. It’s a little tougher than some muscle meats, so I usually slow cook it to get it nice and tender. I recommend trying heart for those who are not familiar with cooking and eating organ meats, but would like to get started. Kind of like a ‘gate-way’ meat, if you will.
Recently, I diced and then slow cooked the beef heart with carrots, potatoes, celery and a few spices for a delicious filling meal. I served it with a slice of sprouted grain bread slathered with butter. Yum! My 10-month old absolutely loved it (I blended it up for him as we’re still working on chunkier textures)!
Check out my recipes page for the detailed recipe!