Friday October 8th

After an extremely busy but worthwhile 3 day CorkMeet, I barely had time to write my article Local markets. Check it out for loads of healthy information on sweet potatoes and check out the reipce below - its delicious:

Lamb Shanks with Sweet Potato stew
Serves 2

Like most people who are interested in good health, I keep my red meat to a minimum of twice a week. However, what I have also started to do is pack my meat dishes with heaps of fibre (one of the things meat is lacking) so that I can balance the meal. In this dish, I have slow cooked lamb shanks and packed the dish full of sweet potatoes, tomatoes and adzuki beans (remember last week – I find adzuki beans go great in red meat dishes). So you can enjoy meat the healthiest way possible – packed in a dish with loads of fibre and nutrients.

2 small lamb shanks
1 sweet potato – cut into cubes
6 medium ripe tomatoes – chopped
1 tin of adzuki or cooked adzuki beans – washed and drained well
2 onions – chopped
3 cloves of garlic
1 bay leaf
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper
1 tbsp of each of the following – basil, parsley, chives, coriander (or whatever you have lying around)
100ml of red wine (optional)

Firstly, heat a dessert spoon of oil in a casserole dish or large saucepan and seal the lamb shanks by browing for a few minutes on each side. Set aside in a bowl.
Then add the onions and a little water to the pan over a medium heat and cover, sauteing for a few minutes. Give the bottom of the bowl a good stir so that you get any pieces of browned meat.
Add in the garlic, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, red wine, bayleaf , pepper and herbs and stir well. Add the lamb shanks and bring to the boil.
Reduce down to a low heat and let simmer for as long as you have! I left mine about 3 hours.
Remove lamb shanks and place in the serving bowl. With the mixture that remains, gently stir in the adzuki beans and season a little more, if necessary.
Pour mixture on top of the shanks and sprinkle with a little fresh herbs. The meat should simply fall off the bones – leave any remaining excess fat on the side.

Wheat free, gluten free, dairy free, sugar free