Italian Pot Roast with Root Vegetables

We had the recipe Italian Braised Beef with Root Vegetables the other night, and it had amazing flavor.  I loved how it tasted, and so did everyone else.  The one problem we had with the recipe, and why it didn't, score any higher, was the beef needed to cook longer so it could shred.  It didn't shred at all, and so it didn't work on pasta as well as I had hoped.  For 1/12 of the total, not including the pasta, the calories were 289, and Aaron gave it a 7, because of the way the meat was, and the boys and I gave it an 8.  The recipe uses Michael Symon's Yia Yia's Sunday Sauce, which I made and used, but didn't get a picture of, so use your favorite red sauce or better yet buy your own Michael Symon's Live to Cook cookbook ;)

3 lb rump roast
salt and pepper
olive oil
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped (Michael Symon says to use celery root, I prefer just celery)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 c wine (I used beef broth)
2 c Yia Yia's Sunday Sauce
1 c water
2 bay leaves

Heat olive oil in a dutch oven or other large oven safe pan.  Heat oven to 300.  Salt and pepper roast, and brown on all sides.  Throw carrot, onion, and celery in the pot, and cook for a few minutes, then add garlic.  Add the wine and deglaze the pan, then add the water and red sauce and bay leaves, bring to a simmer, then cook for 3 hours at least in the oven (I only did 3 hours, and our roast needed longer cooking), basting as needed.  Shred and serve with more sauce and pasta.

Roman Style Chicken and Heirloom Tomato Salad

Our dinner tonight was found at www.foodnetwork.com and it was Roman Style Chicken from Giada de Laurentis.  The boys really liked this, and I thought it had nice flavor, but it's not really my kind of chicken, nor is it Aaron's.  He gave it a 6, I gave it an 8, and Owen and Noah gave it a perfect 10, because they love eating their drumsticks.  The calories for a thigh were 297, with 1/4 of the sauce.  I cut the recipe in half, using only 2 drumsticks and 2 thighs.  This was a simple, quick dinner, and makes a great family meal.  This however, was not the highlight of the meal.
Anne Burrell's Heirloom Tomato Salad with Warm Goat Cheese was the real star.  The recipe I linked to is just a little different from the one I used in her cookbook, in the cookbook she uses basil instead of oregano, and she doesn't use the baguette, just smears the goat cheese that has been warmed in the oven for 8-10 minutes on the top of the salad, as you see in my picture.  The calories for a cut in half salad with four servings out of it were about 200/serving.  We LOVED this.  I can't tell you how much we ate of this.  Aaron said he wishes I hadn't made any chicken, and to have Aaron wish for no meat in our dinner has never happened, not once.  So yeah, make this salad.  Even the boys liked the salad, they thought the goat cheese was really good.  Aaron and I gave the salad a perfect 10, Owen gave it a 7, and Noah gave it an 8.  I didn't have any arugula, so I just used romaine, arugula would look prettier and taste great.

Tomorrow we're having a blueberry cake and some avocado enchiladas.

Big Meatball Meatloaf

Tonight we had Italian meatloaf made in the crockpot.  Again, no pictures, sorry, but this was so fabulous!  We gave it between a 9 and a 10.  I used the basic recipe from the Italian Slow Cooker cookbook I've talked about before, and this recipe was so easy and worth the calories :)  Here's what I did:
Big Meatball Meatloaf
1 lb hamburger
1/2 c parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/4 c bread crumbs
salt, garlic salt, onion powder
2 1/2 c marinara sauce
4 oz pasta, cooked

(This is close to the recipe in the cookbook, she used less spices in the meat, and added more egg, and added garlic and pepper, and she used a lot less sauce.  She also uses tinfoil to line the crockpot and doesn't use the pasta.)
Spray a crockpot with cooking spray.  Mix all ingredients except for sauce in a bowl and shape it into 2 mini loaves or one big loaf, depending on your slowcooker shape.  Dump all the sauce over it.  Cook on high for 4 hours.  Then add in cooked pasta to heat through and mix with the sauce.  Cut the meatloaf into 8 slices, and place on pasta like meatballs.  350 calories/serving with pasta.  We were amazed at how well the meat loafs stayed together, and how great it all tasted.  So little work, but so much flavor.  Yum!  Tomorrow we're having a Thai chicken salad from Ourbestbites.com.