There is nothing more comforting to me than curling up on the sofa with a bowl beef stew and slice of cornbread on a cold winter’s day. But this week, I just didn’t want traditional beef stew. At the grocery store, I found sirloin roast on sale, half-priced. I decided it was time to figure out how to make a Greek dish I had had many years ago. I only remembered it had eggplant and beef in it so I did a search online to see if anything rang a bell in my memory. I found moussaka which is similar but I didn’t recall a cheese sauce on top or potatoes, although that IS probably what I had ~ it has been so long I can’t remember… still my creative juices were flowing by now and I just wanted to experiment. I had seen several recipes using basalmic vinegar and thought, ummmmm, that’s different. Maybe a combination of these flavors would render something spectacular.
And so I gathered my wits to create something. I had a theory that if I put good ingredients in, something good would come out. I wanted it slow cooked so I brought out my crock pot…the results? The perfect meal for a cold winter’s evening. My theory was right..put good ingredients in, you get a fabulous meal on the other side. Happy Cooking…
Ingredients
- 2-3 lb Sirloin beef roast
- 1 Large Eggplant..prepared as below
- 1 Large onion chopped into med sized pieces
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 small bag baby carrots, washed and drained
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 large red bell pepper sliced into strips
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 TBLS Basalmic vinegar
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 TBLS Greek seasoning
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Peel eggplant down the length, leaving stripes of peeling on. Slice into discs, salt generously and place between paper towels with something like a plate on top to help remove excess moisture for at least 20 minutes
- Place carrots in bottom of slow cooker. Add small onion, celery, roast, vinegar, garlic, beef broth.
- Cook on low 4-5 hours until meat is tender. Or on high 2-3 hours.
- During the last hour prepare eggplant (see notes above).
- In a large skillet pour couple TBLS Olive Oil and add onion and bell pepper. Saute on med-low heat until onions are almost transparent.
- Arrange eggplant on top of onion and peppers. Pour can of tomatoes over top, cover and simmer until eggplant is done, about 15 minutes.
- Lift Roast and carrots with a slotted spoon from cooker and add to eggplant mixture, gently tossing to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.
- You may add more Basalmic vinegar to eggplant, along with another teaspoon of Greek seasoning. Serve over Rice.
