Italian Beef

Some foods have a memory with them. My grandfather was an Italian immigrant, and I spent a lot of my formative years in Illinois. This sandwich was the house specialty of the restaurant where I worked when I was 16. It was my first real job, and I wasn't a very good waitress, but my now-husband thought I was cute, and persuaded the boss not to fire me. A taste of this Chicago-area favorite always takes me back in time.

(This is a lazy, short-cut version. Someday, I'll post my original, old-style recipe.)

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (4 pound) boneless sirloin tip roast, halved
* 2 (.7 ounce) packages Italian salad dressing mix (like Good Seasons)
* 2 cups water (or low-sodium beef broth)
* 1 (16 ounce) jar pepperoncini peppers (pre-sliced into rings is nice!)
* 16 hoagie buns, split (for the family - we'll skip that part for weight loss)

DIRECTIONS

1. Place roast in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Combine the salad dressing mix and water; pour over roast. Add half (or to taste) of the pepper rings, including some juice. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until meat is tender.
2. Remove meat; shred with a fork and return to slow cooker. If desired, add more peppers, or adjust seasoning; heat through.
3. To serve, we will have it with or over romaine lettuce, like an Italian Beef Caesar Salad.
For the family or guests, spoon 1/2 cup or so of the meat mixture onto each bun, spooning a little juice in there, too. Serve some of the meat broth au jus as well, along with any remaining peppers.

This makes a BIG batch, 16 servings, so you may want to cut it in half. I like having some in the freezer, for an easy Saturday night or Sunday afternoon.


Nutrition Info
For entire recipe (meat and all peppers, no bun): 2424 calories, 67 g fat, 37 g carbs, 386 g protein
Per serving (meat and all peppers, no bun): 151 calories, 4.2 g fat, 2.3 g carbs, 24 g protein