Tex-Mex Chuck Roast Stew

HOWDY friends!  Hope you are doing well and staying warm today.  I’m enjoying a relaxing weekend with family, and I’ve even found a little time to get back online again.  I’ve got several recipes I’ve been wanting to share with you, but haven’t had the time to post them.  I’ll post one today, and hopefully I’ll get to the others soon.

Anyway…a few months ago, I came across a recipe for Mexican-Inspired Southwestern Chuck Roast over at one of my favorite blogs…Ally’s Kitchen.  I thought it sounded incredible, but I didn’t want to go through all the effort (and clean-up) of making the oven-version, so I decided to go with the slow-cooker.

I adapted the ingredients a little to fit what was in my pantry, and added a little extra liquid to make a thick stew rather than a regular roast.  After it had cooked for 5 hours, it was still a little soupier than I wanted, so I added the vermicelli.  It came out really good, and was a BIG hit with my hubby.

It thickened as it cooled (the vermicelli absorbed most of the liquid), but the thickened version was yummy too.  There was plenty left over, so I divided it into several freezer containers and froze it.  It made several quick & easy suppers over the next few weeks.

One time we just heated up the leftovers and served them in tortillas (flour for hubby, corn for me) with some diced avocado and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt (you could use sour cream if you prefer), kind of a pulled-beef taco.  Soooo yummy!

Another night, we just added a little more liquid (you could use water or more beef broth) to thin it out again, and served it as a stew again.  Still wonderful.  I’ll definitely be making this again…and again…

Tex-Mex Chuck Roast Stew

Ingredients

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. premium 6 pepper seasoning (original recipe called for 1 tsp. ground smoked ancho chili powder)

1/4 tsp. black pepper

4 Tbsp. flour

2 lb. chuck roast

1/4 cup olive oil (you can use a little more or a little less…this isn’t an exact science)

1 tsp. chili powder

2 Tbsp. fire-roasted Mexican green salsa (medium)

3-1/2 cups lower sodium beef broth

1 (14.5 oz.) can whole tomatoes (crushed)

11 oz. Spicy V8 tomato juice

3 large cloves garlic, chopped (I’m a garlic-lover, so I used more than the original recipe called for.  Feel free to use more or less depending on your personal taste.)

4 oz. chopped green chilis

1 cup chopped celery (you can chop the pieces into large chunks or finely chop them, according to your preference)

1 cup shredded carrots (I used pre-cut matchstick carrots)

1 (4 oz.) box of spicy vermicelli (I used Q&Q brand)

Mix together first five ingredients, then coat all sides of the roast with the seasonings, and rub into the meat.  Heat olive oil in a large skillet.  Once it’s hot, sear all sides of the roast until they are golden brown.  Place seared roast into slow-cooker, then add remaining ingredients (except the vermicelli) on top of the meat.  Don’t stir, just put it all in there, on top of and around the meat.

Cook on high for 5 hours or until fork-tender.  Remove roast from liquid and pull apart/shred using 2 forks.  Return shredded meat to slow-cooker, mix well.  (You can cut meat into bite-sized chunks if you prefer.)  Add vermicelli and let it cook for an additional 30 minutes on high.  Serve hot with crusty bread.

The recipe is very versatile.  I think I’ll try serving it over some brown rice or pasta in the future.  YUM!

I hope you’ll give it a try.  If you make your own adaptations, let me know what they are.  I might like them too!

AND...don’t forget to stop by Ally's Kitchen and show her some love…she’s got lots of great recipes you’ll want to try.  Her original recipe looks incredible, so be sure to check it out.

Well, I gotta run.  Family calls.  I hope you’re enjoying some time with your family this weekend too.  If so, enjoy and treasure every minute.  It goes by far too quickly.

Oh yeah…don’t forget to “Spring Forward” this weekend.  Hope to chat with you again soon…

Blessings,

--Faithy