Healthy recipe: Beef and Guinness Casserole

Feeling peckish? Instead of dining out on something that's probably saltier than the Atlantic ocean, why not try a healthy Beef and Guinness casserole? It's man-food, it's healthy and it's easy, so impress herself (or even just yourself) this weekend by rustling this up.

When you think of manly things, beef and Guinness are generally fairly high up there on the list. That's why Weight Watchers have combined the two to make the ultimate healthy man meal. Here's how to make JOE's healthy meal of the week.

Beef and Guinness Casserole

The basics:

9 ProPoints™ values per serving (36 ProPoints™ values per recipe) 
Takes 15 minutes to prepare, 2hr 10mins minutes to cook
Serves 4

What you need:

Some calorie controlled cooking spray
500g beef - braising steak, lean, raw - cut into chunks
2 large onions, sliced
3 sticks celery, chopped
2 medium carrots, old, raw and sliced
2 beef stock cubes, dissolved in 300ml hot water
A pint (or maybe more conveniently, a can or two bottles) of Guinness 
175g mushrooms, sliced
2 sprigs parsley
1 teaspoons thyme, dried
450g potatoes, raw, peeled and cut into chunks
1 pinch salt
1/8 teaspoons pepper

What to do:

1. Preheat your oven to Gas Mark 4 or if you have an electric cooker crank it up to 180°C (fan oven 160°C). Leave it heating until it's fully preheated.

2. Spray a large flameproof casserole dish with low fat cooking spray and place over a high heat on the hob. Add the beef at a handful at a time, so that it browns slightly and seals in the flavours. Add the onions, celery and carrots and cook over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes.

3. Now it's time to add the beef stock, the Guinness (if there's any left), mushrooms, parsley and thyme. Season your mixture with salt and pepper and anything else you think might add some flavour. Once this is done you can bring everything up to the boil. Once it starts boiling cover your casserole dish and transfer it to the oven. Cook for 1½ hours.

4. Once everything has been bubbling away for 90 minutes you can then add the potatoes. Once they're in, cover your dish and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are done and the meat is tender.

There you have it. A tasty delicious meal that's easy to make and much better for you than salty sea-dog pizza.