The Perfect Back-to-School Dinner

It’s back to school time! This week I have been planning meals that will come together in a flash on those days that the members of this family return home from work and school and then need to do a quick turnaround as we head out for an evening of extra-curricular practices and meetings.  On days like this, the crock pot is my best friend.

I don’t know about all of you, but I certainly don’t have extra time in my mornings to chop vegetables and season meat for a recipe. So, in the evening, I combine ingredients for a slow-cooked recipe in my crock pot liner, then put it into the refrigerator. The next morning, before we rush out the door for school and work, I pull the crock pot from the fridge and place it into the cooker, turned to the lowest setting.

There is nothing better than walking through the door at the end of a busy day to the mouth-watering smell of a perfectly cooked meal. It’s like the Dinner Fairy came while we were out!

If you make a salad ahead, like this simple and delicious Cucumber Ribbon Salad, then you don’t even have to worry about creating a side dish. In fact, I think that this salad is even better on the second day.

This combination of barbecued beef sandwiches and cucumber salad is perfect for this time of year.  The savory barbecue is hearty and filling and the cucumber salad is light and refreshing, using seasonal ingredients from our lingering summer garden.  

The barbecued brisket featured here is great for a few reasons. First, it is absolutely delicious. Second, it tastes good cold too. You can pack the leftovers into sack lunches for the next day while you clean up from dinner, thus killing two birds with one stone. Finally, the barbecue freezes and re-heats beautifully. Pack some of the leftovers into a labeled freezer bag and put them in your freezer for dinner on another busy night.

 Slow Cooked Barbecue Beer Beef from allrecipes.com

1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup beer
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 drops liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 pounds beef brisket
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
16 potato buns, or as needed

Directions:
1. Place the onion and garlic into a large slow cooker. Pour in the ketchup, beer, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke; set aside. Combine the salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, oregano, and brown sugar until evenly blended. Rub the spice mixture all over the beef brisket. Place the brisket into the slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining spice mixture over top.
2. Cover, and cook on Low until the beef is easily shredded with two forks, 10 to 12 hours.
3. Remove the beef from the slow cooker, and place into a large bowl. Ladle the fat from the remaining sauce in the slow cooker and discard. Pour about 2 cups of the sauce from the slow cooker into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water, and stir into the simmering sauce. Cook and stir 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Meanwhile, shred the meat into small pieces using two forks.
4. Pour the thickened sauce and remaining sauce from the slow cooker into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the sauce right in the slow cooker.
5. Stir the shredded beef and pureed sauce together in the slow cooker. Use tongs to serve

Notes:  If your brisket is larger (for instance, I used a 5-1/2 lb. brisket when I prepared this recipe), then increase the other ingredients proportionally to insure that you have enough sauce.

Easy Crisp Cucumber Salad adapted from Kraft Foods

This recipe looks so pretty on the plate that you’d never guess it came together in just minutes.

2 large cucumbers
8 radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup ATHENOS Crumbled Feta Cheese with Basil & Tomato
1/3 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1/3-1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/2 of a red onion, thinly sliced

Make It

Use a vegetable peeler to cut 1 cucumber into long thin ribbons.

Chop remaining cucumber into 1-inch cubes. Toss with remaining ingredients.

Spoon cucumber mixture onto center of platter; surround with cucumber ribbons.

 Nutritional information per serving:

Calories 100 Total fat 6 g Saturated fat 1.5 g Cholesterol 5 mg Sodium 300 mg Carbohydrate 9 g Dietary fiber 2 g Sugars 4 g Protein 3 g Vitamin A 6 %DV Vitamin C 10 %DV Calcium 6 %DV Iron 4 %DV

Notes: I packed the leftover salad up for a play date picnic the next day, where it was a huge hit with my “mommy friends” who met us at the park. This would also be excellent for packing into school lunches.