A Nourishing, Cold-Weather Meal

Everyone craves comfort food in the winter season--it's warm, filling and of course, comforting! One of our family's favorite comfort food meals is pot roast. Now, before I began to study more about the benefits of a whole, traditional foods diet for my family's health, I prepared my pot roast dinner much the same way as my mother...canned mushroom-beef soup for the gravy, threw the potatoes in with the roast, canned green beans on the side, etc... While there is no doubt that that method of preparation is easy and tastes (more or less) great, I felt it was definitely time to revamp this meal. Here's what I did:

Pot Roast with Root Veggies

1 large beef roast, preferably grass-fed, well-marbled with fat, for making gravy from the drippings

Assorted root veggies, cut into large chunks and scattered around the roast. I used celery, carrots, onions and turnips with excellent results

Salt and Pepper to taste

Place roast in a large roasting pan; scatter root veggies around the roast. Season roast with salt and pepper. Add about 1 1/2 c. water; cover with aluminum foil and roast at 350 degrees for 2 hours, checking after 1 1/2 hours and adding additional water if necessary. Remove from oven; move roast and veggies to seperate serving dishes. Place roast drippings in a small saucepot; bring to a rapid boil, reduce heat and add a slurry of cornstarch/water to thicken into a nice gravy; pour over roast.

To round out our pot roast meal, I serve steamed green beans seasoned with a bit of salt and butter, as well as garlic mashed potatoes with cream, butter and a bit of salt. I feel mashed potatoes are a healthier alternative to plain 'ol potatoes cooked with the roast, as I get to add butter and cream as well as a healthy dose of raw garlic, an added bonus during the winter cold/flue season due to it's antiviral properties. A meal that's both yummy and immune-boosting!