A roast may seem like an impossible mid week meal, but if you pull out your crock pot you will find it is not only possible, but easy. It doesn’t matter if you have a pork, beef or even venison roast in your freezer it can easily become Wednesday nights dinner in no time at all.
Cut your veggies into equal size pieces. This will make sure they all cook the same and you don’t have some that are not cooked and yet others that are total mush. You can put your potatoes on the bottom of the crock pot. You may even want to make a packet of gravy and add it over the bottom layer of potatoes. Carrots are the other veggies I usually use with a roast. I just scatter these around the edges of the roast. Onions are a must and to keep them from cooking away I just put them on the top of my roast. If you like green beans with your roast I recommend you add them during the last hour of cooking time.
How to season a roast is completely up to your personal taste. It can be as simple as adding a packet of onion soup mix. Another easy option is adding some cream of mushroom soup. If you prefer a more Italian flavored roast simply grab your Italian seasoning mix and sprinkle your roast liberally with it.
No matter what spices you choose to season your roast you can add dry seasoning in at the beginning of cooking time. It will work just fine. If you are going the fresh route for your seasoning and are using fresh herbs I suggest you wait until the last hour of cooking to add them. Fresh herbs quickly flavor the roast and are best left to the end.
So how long is all this going to take. Well it isn’t going to happen in an hour, but that’s the point right? You should leave at least 6-8 hours for your roast to cook. This time will vary depending on the size of your roast, the cooking temperature of your cooker as well as whether you start the roast frozen or thawed.
The fact it takes a long time to cook makes it perfect for a weekday. Yes, I said a weekday. You can easily start your roast in the morning before you leave for work and it will be ready and waiting for you when you get home. You can even get it all set up in the crock the night before. Put your ingredients in the crock, cover with plastic wrap and then pop it in the refrigerator. Then all you have to do is set the heat setting and drop the crock in the crock pot. Starting with a frozen roast is especially good if you are going to be gone all day long. This decreases the chances of over cooking your roast.
Cooking roast in the crock pot has so many advantages. You can use cheaper cuts of meat and they will still be tender and delicious. It gives you a chance to have a family dinner. You know exactly what went into your food which is always better for your health. Roast used to be a Sunday food, but with your crock pot it can now be an easy Wednesday dinner.
Leave a Reply