Slow-Cooker Pot Roast

A down-home Sunday meal. Delicious served with mashed potatoes. This resembled more of a stew-like consistency rather than a roast, but still comforting and yummy. For a more roast-like appearance, strain veggies from gravy after removing roast and arrange roast and veggies on a serving platter and top with gravy.

From Food Network

Ingredients:
~One 4lb beef chuck roast (or whatever is on sale that week)
~salt and pepper
~1/3 cup flour, plus more for coating
~3 tbs olive oil
~1 lb. carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
~1 package mushrooms
~1 medium onion, cut into 1/2 inch wedges
~3 cloves garlic, mashed
~3 tbs. tomato paste
~1 cup red wine (a shiraz or chianti would work well)
~3 cups low-sodium beef broth
~3 bay leaves
~2 sprigs fresh thyme
~1/2 tsp. ground allspice
~1/2 cup loosely packed parsley leaves

1. Sprinkle roast on all sides with salt and pepper. Coat in flour and shake off excess.
2. Heat 2 tbs oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Brown roast on all sides and transfer to slow cooker. Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic.
3. Add remaining tbs oil to skillet. Add tomato paste and stir until the oil turns brick red (about 1 minute). Add flour and wine and whisk until thick - it's okay if there are some lumps.
4. Add beef broth, bay leaves, thyme, allspice, 1/2 tsp salt, and a dash of pepper and bring to a simmer, whisking until gravy is smooth and thickens slightly.
5. Pour gravy into slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
6. Before serving, remove roast and let rest for a few minutes. Remove thyme stems and bay leaves. Toss parsley with veggies and season with salt and pepper if needed.
7. Slice roast against the grain and serve topped with veggies and gravy.

Slow-Cooker Veggie Chili with Sweet Potatoes

Easy and delicious, with a couple surprise ingredients: cinnamon and cocoa powder! An excellent fall meal. It would also be great with the addition of quinoa, which is how I plan to make it next time.

From Real Simple

Ingredients:
~1 medium red onion, chopped
~1 orange bell pepper, chopped
~4 garlic cloves, chopped
~1 tbs chili powder
~1 tbs cumin
~2 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
~1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
~salt and pepper
~1 28oz. can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
~1 15.5oz. can kidney beans
~1 15.5oz. can black beans
~2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
~1 cup chicken stock (or veggie stock if you're going for full vegetarian)

1. In slow cooker, combine onion, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, cocoa, cinnamon, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Add tomatoes and their liquid, beans, sweet potato, and chicken stock.
2. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
3. Serve with sour cream, scallions, radishes, or tortilla chips.

Balsamic Blueberry Grilled Cheese

This is a delicious, buttery, sandwich with a slightly sweet filling thanks to the blueberries. We used Havarti cheese, but you could use white cheddar or goat (which I definitely plan on trying!) So easy yet so full of flavor. I added basil to the sandwich to give it a reminiscent flavor of a roasted blueberry tart we love:  http://www.colorfulapronstrings.blogspot.com/2014/05/roasted-blueberry-tart.html

From Amanda K by the Bay

Ingredients:
~crusty bread
~Havarti cheese, sliced
~2 tbs fresh basil, chopped
~1/2 cup fresh blueberries
~1 tbs balsamic vinegar
~1 and 1/2 tbs brown sugar
~spreadable butter
~freshly ground black pepper

1. In a small saucepan, combine blueberries, vinegar, and brown sugar over medium heat and bring to a slow boil. Use a potato masher to crush berries. After mixture boils for 5 minutes, pour into a mesh strainer to separate the solids from the juice. (Save the juice - it could be used as a syrup for ice cream, pancakes, you name it!)
2. Heat grill pan over medium heat.
3. Butter outsides of bread. Turn over and layer one slice with blueberries, cheese, basil, and a light dusting
of freshly ground black pepper. Top with other slice and place on grill pan, butter side down. Flip sandwich when bread is toasted. Repeat with other sandwiches.

Banana Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Thick, rich, and delicious - with only 2 ingredients! Yup, just bananas and peanut butter. You NEED to give this one a try.

Adapted from One Ingredient Chef

Ingredients:
~5 frozen bananas (to freeze, just peel and freeze whole inside a freezer bag overnight)
~1/3 cup peanut butter (the natural peanut butter from ALDI has a great texture that was yummy in this)

1. Cut bananas into 1/2 inch chunks and put in food processor with peanut butter. Blend until texture is smooth and creamy.
2. That's it! Seriously. That's it.

Grilled Pork Chops with Basil-Garlic Rub

This "wet" rub is bright and flavorful - not normally a combination I might associate with pork chops, but it was delicious. It would also be great on chicken or a whitefish. I served it with smashed red potatoes.

From World's Best Recipes

Ingredients:
~4-6 pork chops (use whatever cut you like - we had some really thin ones we had gotten on special, and they ended up being a little more like cutlets than chops)
~2 garlic cloves, peeled
~1 cup fresh basil leaves
~2 tbs lemon juice
~2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
~1 tsp salt
~1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1. Using a food processor, mince garlic. Add basil and process until chopped.
2. Add lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and process until combined.
3. Spread both sides of chops with basil mixture and let stand at least 15-30 minutes. (I marinated mine in the fridge for about 3 hours)
4. Heat grill pan over medium/medium-high depending on thickness of chops. Grill for a few minutes per side or until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees. Let rest for 3-5 minutes.

Chilaquiles

Our Version

I first met chilaquiles at a taco truck at the Highline Park in New York City. It's a mix of chips, chicken, and cheese simmered in a salsa sauce. This version is a spicy, cheesy, one-pot meal. You will want sturdy chips so they don't lose their crunch in the cooking process.

From Rick Bayless

Ingredients:
~3 tbs. vegetable oil
~1 small white onion
~3 16oz. jars of salsa, preferably a tomatillo salsa
~1 32oz box chicken stock
~24 oz. sturdy tortilla chips
~2 cups shredded Chihuahua cheese or Monterey Jack
~2 to 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
~3/4 cup Mexican crema or sour cream

The Highline Version

~1/2 cup freshly grated queso Anejo or Parmesan (I know that sounds weird, but you're looking for a slightly salty finish)
~cilantro for garnish

1. In a large (6-quart) Dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and cook, stirring regularly, until browned.
2. Add salsa and broth and bring to a boil. When it is at a rolling boil, turn off heat and stir in chips and shredded cheese. Make sure chips are submerged in liquid.
3. Add chicken to top, cover, and let stand for 3-4 minutes. Gently stir to combine. Serve in shallow bowls and top with crema, queso Anejo and cilantro.

Roasted Blueberry Tart

Creamy, a little tangy, and fresh with the basil on top. The roasted blueberries have an almost pie-filling-like consistency and are so delicious. It's an easy recipe - the hardest part is spreading the cheese mixture onto the pastry because it's so flaky. This would be great as a dessert or even as a brunch item.

From Lemons for Lulu

Ingredients:
~1 puff pastry (they usually come in boxes of 2, so you'll just need one - keep it in the freezer for next time!)
~4 oz. mascarpone cheese, softened
~2 oz. goat cheese, softened
~1 tsp vanilla
~4 tbs sugar
~1 and 1/2 cups blueberries
~1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped for topping

1. Preheat oven to 400. Roll out puff pastry onto floured surface and roll into 11x13 rectangle. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool. (It will be VERY fluffy when it comes out of the oven but will deflate as it cools)
2. Raise oven temperature to 450. In a small bowl, combine blueberries, sugar, and vanilla and mix to coat berries. Spread them out on a baking sheet and roast for 10-12 minutes. It will create a bubbly sauce that surrounds the berries.
3. Combine cheeses in a bowl. Very carefully spread cheese onto puff pastry. I found that the easiest way to do this was to put small dollops of cheese all across the pastry and spread them out with a small spatula. If you dump it all in the middle it will be very hard to spread and the pastry will flake apart.
4. Top with roasted berries.
5. Sprinkle with fresh basil just before serving.