Chili Pot Roast with Cauliflower Mash

I can usually tell if my hubby likes a meal or not.  It all depends on if he goes back for seconds.  This was one of those meals!  Let's back up a bit before I get into the food.

Today I got to play with new toys!  I haven't blogged in a few days because I've been a bad girl.  I basically had "cheat day" all weekend since Friday was my birthday and I celebrated on Friday and Sunday.  I did cook a Paleo meal on Saturday and I do need to blog about it because it was delicious but I'll get to that when I can.  I've blogged about how much I hate my crock pot and the fact that I don't have a food processor.  Well, I got BOTH of those for my birthday!  The food processor was a surprise but the crock pot was the exact one I wanted and I actually bought it myself the week before my birthday with an online coupon from Bed Bath & Beyond.  Don't worry, I used my hubby's bank card so it "felt" like it came from him.  I also got a new steamer basket since mine disappeared a few months back and that was a surprise as well.  I also got lots of other fun stuff from my family, but for this blog post, those 3 items are of high importance.

Back to tonight's Paleo Adventure!  This was a simple meal to prepare.  Well, simple if you know how to read and follow instructions.  I had no intention of adapting or changing this meal and I ended up doing just that because I didn't read the instructions correctly.  The meal called for a pork roast and I used a beef roast.  It didn't matter, it tasted just fine.  As soon as my crock pot arrived today (just around 11am) I washed it out, chose the 4qt size crock, and started making my dinner.  I popped the roast in, poured in the beef broth, topped it with the tomatoes, chilies, and spices.  DONE!  I love easy meals!

The second part of the meal took a little longer to create but was really just as simple.  I followed this recipe from Everyday Maven for Cauliflower Mash and the only thing I changed was the butter.  I don't have ghee yet so I used regular butter and just upped the amount from 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup.  I got a head of cauliflower at the farmer's market on Thursday and I chopped it up and steamed it in my new steamer basket, then pureed it in my food processor with some butter and sea salt.  That was awesome!  I did have to add a little almond milk to make it creamier, but it was super easy to make.

We like gravy on our mash, so we used a little au jus from the roast.

Verdict: This was soooo good!  #3 found the roast a bit spicy, but I think it's because she had the end piece that had all the spices on it.  Everyone loved the cauliflower mash and my hubby went back for seconds on that!  I asked him if he'd been missing mashed potatoes and he kept saying it tasted just like mashed potatoes.  Big win for dinner here!

CHILI POT ROAST

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 lbs roast

6 ounces beef broth

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

2 ounces diced green chiles, undrained

1 tsp chili powder

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp onion powder

Directions:

1. Place all items into crock pot in order.

2. Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or high 4-6 hours.

CAULIFLOWER MASH

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 large head cauliflower, core removed and cut into evenly sized florets

¼ cup Ghee butter (Paleo) or 1/3 cup regular butter (NOT Paleo)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 TBSP plain, unsweetened almond milk (as needed)

Instructions:

1. Remove cauliflower florets from core, cut into evenly sized pieces.

2. Steam the cauliflower for 12-15 minutes or until they are very tender and almost falling apart.  This is important because the more tender they are, the less lumpy your mash will be.

3. Place Ghee and salt in the bowl of your food processor.  Carefully (I used tongs because by cauliflower was HOT) add steamed florets to processor.

4. Remove the tube to allow steam to escape and process for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth.

5. Add almond milk only if needed and fresh ground pepper to taste.