5 Days 5 Lunches: Pot Roast

5 Days 5 Lunches returns with a change of pace from the past few weeks. I wanted to go back to what I consider my cooking wheelhouse, stove top cooking. I really enjoy stove top cooking more than grilling or anything else. In my opinion you can build a more complex flavor structure to your dish. You also have much more control over the temperature of your heating element. Which is nice when you don’t have to worry about running out of heat (like I have the past few weeks).

This is part of my ongoing series that I do once a week to help you get through the work week with a healthy meal. I like to suggest a recipe that you can cook on a Sunday and pack it for your lunch all week. This is a great way to save money and to eat well.

So why pot roast? Because I love it. It’s an economical dish that doesn’t require a fancy cut of meat. It reminds me of the years when my Mom went back to work and my dad had to cook for us. Roast was his go-to dish. It’s pretty hard to screw up and even if it’s overdone, if you slather it with enough sauce and potatoes it’s still a satisfying dinner.

I especially love pot roast when it gets so soft you just have to press down on it with your fork and it falls apart. That tenderness is perfect for a lunch dish, since it’ll stay juicy all week.  I paired it with some sweet potatoes and potatoes to counterbalance some of the tangy flavors built in a good pot roast sauce.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 Beef Chuck Roast (3lb to 5lb)

1 Tbsp. Salt

1/2 Tbsp. Black Pepper

1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder

1 Tbsp. Onion Powder

1 Tbsp. Rosemary

2 Tsp. Thyme

2 Tbsp. Cooking Oil

1/2 Diced White Onions

4 Cloves Garlic, Crushed

1/4 Cup Marsala Cooking Wine

2 Cups Chicken Broth

2 Potatoes

2 Sweet Potatoes

*Optional* One Plum

Method

The day before you plan to cook your roast, marinate it with a nice rub of the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and thyme. I topped it with some soft plums so the juices could help tenderize the meat some more. Set this to marinate in the fridge overnight.

The next day, heat some oil and then add your crushed garlic and onions. As they begin to soften, add your roast & rosemary. Brown all sides of the roast. This is critical, you really want to do this to lock in all the flavor into the roast. About 2-3 minutes per side depending on your heat. Once all sides are browned, add your cooking wine. This is to deglaze your pot, this will help build even more flavor. Once you’ve deglazed your pot. Add your chicken broth.

Now lower your heat to the second lowest setting on your stove top, put the cover on and cook for 4 hours. Around the 2nd hour you can add your sweet potatoes and potatoes.

I removed the sweet potatoes around hour three and finished them in the oven, sweet potatoes tend to dissolve more than their white potato brethren.

Keep stirring your pot intermittently. By the fourth hour of slow cooking, the roast should fall apart.

Plate and Enjoy!

 

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