Osso Bucco Stew (with Nightshade Free Variation)

Do you ever wonder how we, as individuals, can contribute to making our world a healthier place to live? One of the simplest, most basic ways is to get into the kitchen and cook nutrient dense food for our families, using local, seasonal, ethically sourced whole food ingredients. In our podcast with Joel Salatin, he gives a beautiful explanation of why this is so important. And Dr Natasha Campbell McBride also shares her inspiring thoughts on this subject in our interview with her.

When we have integrity in the food we cook and eat, this not only results in better health for our families, but also for our nation, as we begin to support farmers who are doing the right thing by the land and the animals they are raising. Yes, cooking from scratch with real food ingredients takes time and you may have to simplify your life so you have time to cook, but if we don’t return to cooking at home, our food system and our health will continue to go downhill. Having healthy families, healthy farming practices, and a healthy nation begins in your kitchen.

Of course, not all ‘from scratch’ cooking takes a lot of time in the kitchen – recipes like this one are a mainstay in our family, because once you’ve chopped up the veggies you don’t have much more to do except wait for it to cook! Slow cooking is such a great time-saver for busy families and the result is rich and delicious, the ultimate comfort food, full of nourishing goodness. Not to mention, it’s an economical way to cook, as you can use the cheaper cuts of meat that are often overlooked. Then there’s the benefits of slow cooking meat on the bone, and the resulting flavour which will have your family begging for more! You can’t lose, right? 

(Above photos by Tash Marie)

For those of you working on improving gut health, we’ve included a nightshade-free variation, as it’s best to omit nightshades during the early stages of healing, as recommended on the GAPS and AIP protocols. Scroll down to check out the nightshade free recipe – it’s just as delicious! 

These recipes were developed for our Quirky Cooking for Gut Health program with the help of our Quirky recipe developer, Sarah Moran, and are suitable for the GAPS diet once ingredients are tolerated. The regular version is Full GAPS, and the nightshade free version from stage 1 of Intro if cracked pepper is omitted and bay leaves are removed before eating. Omit Gremolata until Full GAPS. (Peppercorns can be added for flavour but not consumed.)