Gluten-Free: Slow Cooker Summer Pot Roast

Right out of the slow cooker.

It's too damn hot to cook anything. Who wants to slave over an oven or even a grill in just shy of 100F temperatures? Not me. Probably not you unless you're a masochist. Eating out in a heatwave is expensive, but making food using a slow cooker is not. Slow cookers allow for -- and really, necessitate -- the use of cheaper & fattier cuts of meat, making them rich and tasty.

Great for quiet family evenings at home or for entertaining guests, my Hamilton Beach Deluxe Stay or Go 6 Quart Slow Cooker is an essential part of my gluten-free kitchen arsenal. Its lid gasket, clips, serving spoon & travel spoon rest makes it the perfect way to deal with those pesky issues of cross-contamination and having something to eat at someone else's glutenous household thanks to its perfect portability. Guests and hosts alike will be ranting & raving about your food instead of just ranting about meeting the requirements of your dietary restrictions. I did an exceptional amount of research prior to my purchase of this particular slow cooker and it is the best rated as well as one of the cheapest and the best value for money. If you're new to slow cooking -- or even if you're an old hand frustrated with your current appliance -- this one has my seal of approval.  Find it cheapest on Amazon and J&R.

Product recommendation over, one of the easiest but most impressive things to make in a slow cooker is a pot roast. Most of the preparation is cutting cold vegetables; cool yourself down by eating a few. (Personally, I like to munch on the celery.) The only time you need to turn on a stove is to brown all the sides of the roast before placing it in the slow cooker, which even I can deal with for a few minutes without feeling like I'm going to melt.

Without the summer veg
(just the usual ones)
but you get the idea.

You might be thinking "pot roast is a winter meal." It's certainly hearty enough to be, but chew on this: pot roasts make multiple meals. Not only can you have a dinner dish in which you can use a variety of seasonal farmer's market vegetables and you can let cool off a bit to taste if desired, you can also avoid having to make food for several lunches or dinners to come. More if you put leftovers in a freezer bag, write the date & contents with a permanent marker, and stuff it in your freezer. Pot roast can be re-heated in the microwave (resulting in further lack of death due to cooking in this heat) or made into a variety of cold and lukewarm sandwiches. Examples include but are definitely not limited to the old standard of lettuce, tomato & cheese on gluten-free white bread, slice it thin onto a gluten-free sub roll or baguette with cheese, mushrooms and sweet peppers to make a Philly cheese steak, put it on a gluten-free roll with ketchup for a British feel, with BBQ sauce on gluten-free brown or millet bread...

Sound good yet?


PERFECT GLUTEN-FREE SLOW COOKER SUMMER POT ROAST

Ingredients
* approximately 3lb pot roast, chuck roast or other non-lean cut of meat
* onions, sliced
* celery, sliced
* carrots, cut into about 3 inch lengths (peel or no peel is your own preference, I don't peel)
* your choice of summer vegetables
* salt
* pepper
* thyme
* parsley
* minced garlic
* 2-3 bay leaves
* water

Note: You'll notice I don't usually state amounts. Cooking is both an art and a science. I'm a big proponent of using physics to fit everything in my slow cooker that I can and my nose for the rest. Do that and you'll be fine.

Method
1. Season the roast using the seasonings minus the bay leaves if you're not using fresh options for them; putting them on before browning will lock in the flavor.  I'm not a huge fan of salt in my cooking or as a seasoning, but it really does make a different in the flavor of the meat here.
2. In a skillet or frying pan at medium-high heat, brown the meat on all red sides one by one. Rule of thumb is to use whatever temperature you use to brown hamburger.
3. Place the vegetables in the slow cooker.
4. If you are using fresh parsley, thyme, and garlic now would be the time to put them in the slow cooker plus the bay leaves. Otherwise put more of the seasonings that you used to brown the meat into the slow cooker plus the bay leaves.
5. Lay the roast on top.
6. Pour water into the slow cooker until almost comes up to the top of the roast.
7. Add a touch more seasoning to the top of the beef.
8. Set the slow cooker to low and allow to cook for 6-8 hours or time as recommended by your slow cooker manufacturer for cooking on the low setting.
9. Skim fat off the top if desired.
10. Check the seasoning balance before serving; adjust as appropriate.
11. Remove meat & vegetables from the cooker with slotted spoon and tongs, ensuring disposal of bay leaves.  Eating the leaf itself is poisonous.
12. Remove fat according to taste.  I don't remove it at all prior to being on my plate; some people would.
12. Serve.

Yummy slices of meat.

Voila, a tender and moist gluten-free pot roast sans gravy surrounded by delicious and healthy vegetables. A perfect dinner and days (or weeks or months) of varied leftovers. You're welcome!