Quite some time back for reasons I cannot remember, simplicity of camp oven cooking most likely, I stopped browning meat and chicken when doing wet dishes like stews, casseroles and curries.

Let's face it, it all goes in the same pot and all the flavours are retained in the pot.

I have not noticed any difference in taste and now Maggie does the same.

So the question is . . . why do a lot of recipes tell you to brown meat ??????

I'm not sure, but if it tells you to flour the meat before you brown it, I believe that's to help thicken the juices and maybe it's just to kick start the cooking process of the meat.

Why do we brown meat?  ... 'cos that's the way we were taught by grand/parents or our Home Ec teacher!   :D

I think originally it was believed to 'sear in the juices' but that doesn't really apply to stew/braised/casserole meats.  Before refridgeration, I think searing the meat might have killed surface bacteria - shrugs   :-/

Coating beef cubes with flavoured/seasoned flour and then browning them gives extra flavour and helps thicken the dish, in my opinion. You get that 'caramilised' flavour from browned red meat - like a well cooked steak

If the pot is already hot to saute the onion/celery then browning the meat isn't so hard.
It only takes a minute or two per handful of cubes.   

Then there is the colour - I think my sunshine chicken would have looked more appealing if I had browned the chicken up just a little bit more than I did, even if it didn't add anything to the taste   :)

I admit, when time is of the essence my meat browning has been side stepped. However, I do prefer to brown before slow cooking 

I'm a compulsive browner.
Taste a nicely browned sausage off the bbq plate... bloody delicious. Next, put a sausage in a frying pan and slowly cook it without browning it. The flavour isn't the same. Remember when mum used to cook the sunday roast till the outer surface of the lamb took on a delicious flavour and everybody wanted the outer cuts?   Why does every body want the dark browned chicken in the woolies deli? Cause they taste better.  Instead of a flame grilled steak, next time you go to the Brekky Creek, order your Tbone lightly steamed.  :-[ It's all about caramelisation.  It's the process of caramelisation that makes the flesh of other creatures taste good without any other flavour additives.
Browning the meat prior to stewing is an attempt to impart some of that caramelised flavour into the base. How much you brown and how hot you brown has a lot to do with it. Overloading the pot while browning achieves nothing as the meat will tend to just boil in it's own juices. Browning requires a searing heat and overloading the pan makes that almost impossible.
Some dishes don't benefit much from the browning process as they may have another dominant flavour added, but some dishes benefit significantly.