Warm your bones with this comforting dish from Allergy Cooks. Lorraine at Allergy Cooks makes sure that all of her recipes are free from wheat / gluten, eggs, and dairy products, and the recipe below is no exception.
This recipe does call for just a bit of dry gravy mix. Dairy-free brands of gravy mix (even some generics) can be found in stores, but if you are unable to locate some, try Chreese or The Vegetarian Express for two excellent options.

- 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
- 1 small onion
- 400g stewing beef or lamb (just under 1 lb)
- 500ml meat or vegetable stock (a generous 2 cups)
- 1 small turnip
- 4 potatoes
- 2 carrots
- 300g can of borlotti beans, drained (10.5 ounces, a variety of kidney beans)
- 1 heaped tbsp gravy mix
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Peel and chop the onion and fry in the oil over a medium heat until it starts to color.
- Leaving as much of the oil as possible in the pan, remove the onions and put them into a large oven-proof casserole dish.
- Dice the meat into 2cm (1/2 to 1 inch) cubes and fry it in the left-over oil until well browned.
- Add a cupful of the stock to the pan and stir it around to pick up all the meat juices.
- Pour the contents of the frying pan, and all the remaining stock into the casserole dish with the onions.
- Cook in a preheated oven (or use a slow-cooker on a medium setting) for 1 hour.
- Peel and dice the potatoes and turnip / swede and stir them into the stew.
- Leave it to carry on cooking for another 30 minutes.
- Peel and slice the carrots and add these to the stew together with the drained beans.
- Mix the gravy powder with a little cold water and stir this in last.
- Return the stew to the oven for another 20 minutes.
- Serve hot with gluten-free bread or potato farls.
For a vegetarian version, replace the meat with an equal weight of vegetables / pre-soaked pulses. Try parsnips, yams, pumpkin or butternut squash – added to the stock with the potatoes and turnip straight after frying the onions.