1 Pot Pot Roast

There are a million different ways to flavor and prepare a pot roast.  And I, personally, am on a quest to try them all out.  Or at least that is how I feel right now, at the end of a long hot summer anxiously awaiting fall.  Sometimes I hope that if I start cooking for it, that I will magically begin to change the season to my most favorite time of the year......autumn.  So far it's not working so well since it is still about 90* outside, but I will continue to try as I cook yet another new pot roast today.  It's not a bad way to spend a rainy day inside, cooking an amazing meal and filling my home with its amazing aroma. 

1/3 cup of light balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing (divided)
1/4 cup + 2 T. of all-purpose flour (divided)
1- 3lb. beef chuck roast
1 cup of peeled baby carrots
1 cup of zucchini (chopped)
1- 8oz. carton of sliced mushrroms
1 large green sweet pepper (thickly sliced)
1 large vidalia sweet onion (chopped )
sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
5 cloves of garlic (minced)
1- 14oz. can of Italian stewed tomatoes (un-drained)
2 tsp. of dried Italian seasoning

1/4 cup of water

-Heat up about 4 T. of the salad dressing in a large deep stockpot or dutch oven (I use a cast iron one) over medium heat.  Spread out 2 T. of the flour onto a large plate and flip the roast on both sides on it to coat it evenly with flour.  Once the dressing is hot in your pot, toss the roast in and sear it for about 4-5 minutes on each side (leave it be in the pan so you can develope a nice brown crusting to seal in all the juices).  Remove the seared roast to a clean plate; set aside.  Add the remaining 1/4 cup of salad dressing  into the still hot pot and follow with the carrots, zucchini, mushrooms, sweet peppers and onion.  Give them all a nice healthy bit of salt and pepper to sweat out the vegetables natural juices.  Saute them for about 5 minutes, stirring often and go ahead and add in the garlic in the last minute or so.  Pour in the stewed tomatoes along with their juices and the Italian seasonings.  Bring this all to a boil and using a wooden spoon, scrap all that flavor off the bottom of the pan (that's where it is all at).  Replace your seared roast right ontop of all your sauted veggies, cover and simmer on low for about 2 1/2 hours.  Once the roast is finished and super tender, go ahead and remove it to a large plate, cover it with foil, strain out your veggies and place onto your dinner plates, increase your heat back up to medium, add in the remaining flour and the water and stir it often to bring it all together (you are thickening up the juices into a sauce here).  Once your sauce is to your liking (adding in more flour by 1 T. at a time if you want it thicker), go ahead and slice up your roast across the grain of the meat and plate it over the veggies with a drizzle of sauce over it all.  Serves 6.  Enjoy!