Mushy peas are not just for fish and chips

I made one of my favourite slow-cooker meals on Friday - Beef stew with dumplings (recipe below) and was in need of a vegetable to serve with it.

I had some packs of veg in the freezer but I'm not fond of sweet corn and can't stand cauliflower. Brocolli was an option but MWNN didn't want that. So I opened a pack of mushy peas and set them to simmer on the hob during the last 25 minutes of slow-cooker time. The result was declared very good (by MWNN)

 Beef Stew Recipe
 Ingredients
1 can plum tomatoes, 1 medium onion, 1 pint of beef stock, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, worcestershire sauce. 500g braising steak. 1 pack of Auntie Bessies frozen dumplings.

Chop the beef into small chunks ( if you've time, dredge with flour), peel and slice the onion and add to the other ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours.

Add the frozen dumplings about 45 minutes before serving and turn the slow cooker setting up to high.

Serve with vegetable of choice.

Bonus broth.

If you add enough stock, there is just enough 'broth' left over for lunch the following day. Serve with freshly-baked spelt bread.