Tastefully Tuesday - Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Put me in front of the stovetop and something's going to catch fire 7 out of 10 times. However, give me the oven, waffle iron, crock pot, or grill (especially the grill, where there is supposed to be fire) and I am a whiz. Some of our creations even resemble something healthy. But just some of them - most are laden with carbs, calories, etc.

It doesn't really matter what time of year it is; I love pot roast. I love it fresh. I love it in a sourdough bread bowl. I love its leftovers the next day on a thick slice of freshly baked beer bread. There is very little NOT to love about pot roast! It's chock full of protein from the beef, vitamin A from the carrots and celery, and potassium as well as vitamins B and C from the potatoes. Pot roast is good stuff.

This version shows onions. Personally, I avoid them because raw onions set off my oral allergy syndrome. Sadly, I'm not joking; it's a very real allergy. Fortunately onion powder is a nice alternative and doesn't pose any kind of risk. Yay, onion powder!

Personally, I like to cook pot roast in the crock pot - especially if the day will be cold and/or dreary. The smell permeates the house and hits you when you open the front door. If the mouth-watering aroma of pot roast could talk it would say, "Hey, we're cooking enough food for a small army and why don't you join us?" Here's my recipe for pot roast. It's not only easy, but it's also delicious.


Ingredients

• beef roast (although I've also used deer and pork roasts)
• potatoes (you can leave the skins on)
• carrots
• celery
• spices
• water
• 1 can of cola
• 1 brown gravy packet

You'll notice that there are no measurements. For every cup of diced beef, have 1/2 cup each of potatoes and carrots, and 1/8 cup of celery.

Our spice list includes whatever we use whatever we feel like using each time. Some staples include white pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. We've also used things like basil, chili powder, and cumin. Mm, cumin.




Directions

1. Cut all ingredients (that is, except the spices, liquids, and gravy packet) into bite-sized chunks.
2. Put beef, vegetables, and spices in crock pot.
3. First pour cola over ingredients, and then continue filling with water.
4. Cook on high for an hour or so.
5. Transfer 2 cups of broth to an appropriate sized bowl.
6. Mix brown gravy pack with broth until there are no clumps. Return mixture to crock pot.
7. Cut heat back to medium or low, and let stew until potatoes and carrots are tender and meat is has reached desired state. Sometimes we let ours cook until the meat is falling apart, and sometimes it's still a little medium rare. Either way is fine.

Handy Tips

• Use baby carrots and little potatoes to save time cutting everything.
• If you're out of celery, you can use celery seed or celery salt instead.
• You can use diet soda, if you're trying to watch calories. Or like, if you just don't like all the gunk that they put in soda period.

And that's it. It's pretty delicious. I'm going to enjoy a bowl of our leftovers from the weekend for lunch today. Enjoy!