Food for Thought – June 14, 2016

By NANCY ZAMBELL

For The Vista

I’m a big fan of crock pots, and like to use them for a variety of dishes-  soups, stews, pasta sauce, and chili.

But I’ve also made lots of casseroles in them, as well as various meat/vegetable combinations.

And they are great for cooking shredded pork or beef.

I’d forgotten about this recipe until the other day when I was looking for an easy dish that I could take to the office on our team lunch day.

Someone gave it to me a few years ago, and I thought it sounded like a strange combination of ingredients. However, I dared to make it, and I really loved the flavor!

It’s a different take on barbecue, using beef instead of pork (but I have made it with both; I just prefer the beef).

Throw in some potato salad and baked beans, and you’ll be all set for an easy picnic!

Shredded BQ Beef Sandwiches

1 chuck roast

1 pkg zesty Italian dressing mix

1 pkg brown gravy mix

1 pkg ranch dressing mix

1 bottle of beer

Spray crock pot with PAM. Trim fat from roast.

Place roast in bottom of crock pot. Mix together the next four ingredients and pour on top of roast.

Cook 8- 10 hours on low. Remove roast from crock pot, remove any remaining fat, and shred.

Drain liquid from crock pot and discard.

Put shredded beef back into crock pot and stir in barbecue sauce. Continue to cook on low for 1 hour.

Barbecue Sauce

1- 16 oz. can tomato sauce

1 c ketchup

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp onion salt

1 tsp liquid smoke

Mix all ingredients together.

Enjoy!