We can tomatoes every summer, so I use them for all my soups and stews. It is a great way to take advantage of summer ripeness in the dead of winter. But I understand not everyone ‘puts up’ as those from my childhood called canning. In place of home canned tomatoes, you can use whole peeled plum tomatoes, but you will need to use a kitchen shearing knife to cut the tomatoes up so they aren’t whole in your stew.
Heat a few teaspoons of olive oil in a dutch oven on medium heat until warm.
Add sweet potatoes and carrots, along with a sprinkling of salt & ground pepper.
Saute for 5 minutes, stirring every minute or so. Then add a dash more olive oil along with the onions and another sprinkling of salt & pepper. Saute the mixture, stirring as needed, for another 7-10 minutes until the onions are translucent.
As the vegetables cook, mix together in a small bowl the stew meat, spices, 1/2 tsp kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp ground pepper. Once meat is seasoned, add in flour and coat all pieces of the meat well.
Add stew meat, along with a bit more olive oil if needed, to the pan and allow to sear for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and stir well with a wooden spoon.
Add the broth to the pan and using a whisk, scrape the bottom of the pan so all the little bits of brown 'stuff' comes up. This is what impacts huge flavor into your stew.
Once the bottom is sufficiently scraped, add in the canned tomatoes, bay leaves, and bacon.
Bring the stew to simmering {just a few bubbles pop up every minute or so} and allow to simmer for approximately 1-2 hours until the meat is tender.
Stir in the chopped spinach and taste to see if more salt or pepper is needed.