Insights from the Editor

Makes 10 servings; serving size one sandwich

Tell your friends or family they're having prunes or dried plums for dinner and we're pretty sure they'll run for it. For our easy-to-make dish, however, they are the perfect complement. When paired with lean chunks of stew meat and then cooked all day in your favorite barbecue sauce, dried plums produce a sweet, protein- and iron-rich meal anyone would be happy to devour. We bet they'll ask for seconds.

This recipe is featured in the Slow Cooker Creations chapter of our new cookbook, No Whine with Dinner. Besides the great flavor, we also like the fiber from the dried plums, which help to maintain healthy digestion.

Ingredients
2 pounds lean beef stew meat, trimmed of fat
1 medium onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup pitted dried plums
1 cup barbecue sauce
10 whole wheat hamburger buns, lightly toasted

Instructions:
1. Add the meat, onion, prunes, and barbecue sauce to 5-or 6-quart slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low until the meat is tender, 6 to 8 hours.

2. When the meat is done, use two forks to pull the meat and prunes into shredded pieces (there's no need to take the meat out; you can do this right in the slow cooker). Divide the mixture evenly between the hamburger buns and serve.

Nutrition Information
330 calories, 8g fat (2.5g saturated), 510mg sodium, 43g carbohydrate, 4g fiber, 22g protein, 20% iron

This recipe is from the new book No Whine with Dinner by Liz Weiss and Janice Newell Bissex. Order your copy today.