Sunday Dinner: Slow Cooker Pot Roast
By:
Vanessa Greaves & Carl Hanson
At the end of a cold winter’s day, tuck into a delicious hot meal that’s full of cooked-for-hours flavor without hours of kitchen labor.
It's wintertime and you've been out all day snowboarding, skiing, ice skating, snowshoeing, or engaging in that most rigorous winter sport--shopping the holiday sales. After all that activity, wouldn't it be nice to sit down to a home-cooked meal? We say let your slow cooker do all the work while you're busy having a life.
What's for Dinner
This comforting meal takes minimal prep work, and most of that can be done ahead of time. The pot roast recipe has potatoes and carrots built right in, but we make sure you also get your fresh greens with a bright and sassy spinach salad laced with pomegranate seeds, feta cheese, and crunchy walnuts. What's for dessert? How about a simple, custardy bread pudding studded with raisins. If you want to pour a nice glass of wine with your dinner, Carl Hanson has some recommendations.
Wine Pairing
Pot roast is pretty wine-friendly. It's an American classic, so I might stick with an American wine here--a nice big red that fills the mouth and warms the belly. A California Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel would be terrific; same goes for a Merlot or Cabernet from Washington.
Marie's Easy Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Brown the roast the night before, then pop all the ingredients into your slow cooker before you head out the door.
Rave Review:
"I have cooked a lot of roast in my day and this is the ONLY time it has come out perfect! I didn't add any vegetables with it except for cutting an onion in half and setting it on top of the roast for the last 3 hours of cooking time. I made mashed potatoes and green beans separate; just don't like my potatoes to taste like anything except potatoes. I also whisked 2 teaspoons of cornstarch with 1/2 cup water and added to the au jus that I transferred to a saucepan. I boiled the au jus mixture for about 5 minutes, whisking often, for wonderful brown gravy. I was tempted to not cook it as long as the recipe calls for, but please just let it cook and keep checking on the liquid level. Roast cooked this way just melts in your mouth! Thanks for sharing your talent!"
--Wilemon
Spinach Pomegranate Salad
Seed the pomegranate the night before and refrigerate the seeds in an airtight container. You can also wash the spinach and slice the red onion beforehand, but don’t dress the salad until just before serving.
Rave Review:
"This was a very easy and excellent recipe…my whole family loved it."
--ELAINE77
Bread Pudding II
Assemble this easy dessert and let it chill in the fridge overnight, then bake it while you relax over dinner.
Rave Review:
"So good! I used leftover, homemade egg bread...it turned out fabulous! As good as my grandma's, and that's saying a lot!"
--GINNYG
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