Oh lord.
Regionals workouts were announced.
I don’t really want to talk about it. Or think about it. Or dream about it. Or cry about it.
All of which I’m going to do.
Wait, wait, wait. You want me to SNATCH a 70lb DUMBBELL over my head….HOW MANY TIMES?! And I have to deadlift WHAT? Oh wait, I have to actually make it to the 3rd day to deadlift 225#…and that ain’t gonna happen.
The moral of the story, if you want to chat at Regionals, I’ll be in the bathroom, sh*tting myself from nerves. I plan on video taping myself that weekend to show what I eat during competitions, but that video is already doomed. No way am I going to be able to consume actual food while competing, and filming myself in the bathroom is SUPER socially unacceptable. I can only go so far on my blog without sending people in the other direction.
3 more weeks until Regionals. I’m excited, real excited. My gym, CrossFit Broadway, has a team going, as well as Jason Kelly going as an individual. How cool is that?! I love my gym, so much. And I love CrossFit. So so much.
ANYWHO, enough about working out. Let’s get to what really matters. The food. This dish is a cuban style dish that I altered to how I would like it. It usually has olives in it but I hate olives so I just made it how I think makes sense. Deliciously. Laura rates the dish a 9 out of 10 and said she couldn’t tell the difference between the cauliflower rice and regular rice. BOOM. Test it out with your non paleo eater friends. Do it. Dare ya.
Crockpot Ropa Vieja with Cuban Style Rice
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Ingredients
For the ropa vieja
- 1.5–2lbs chuck roast
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
- 1 (6 oz) can tomato sauce
- 1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons capers, drained
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 bay leaf
- salt and pepper, to taste
For the Cuban rice
- 1 head of cauliflower, stem removed and roughly chopped
- 3 thick sliced of bacon, diced
- 1 (4 oz) can tomato sauce
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Pull out your handy dandy crock pot.
- Add your onions and peppers to the bottom of the crockpot.
- Plop your chuck roast on top and cut 4 deep slices into the chuck roast and push your garlic cloves into the roast.
- Now add all your spices and salt and pepper.Then add your tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, capers, and bay leaf to the rest of the crockpot.
- Place on low for 6-8 hours or high for 5-7 hours.
- When your ropa vieja is almost done, it’s time to cook your rice
- Add your chopped cauliflower to a food processor with the shredding attachment. And rice all the cauliflower up.
- Add your diced bacon to a large saucepan and cook down up bacon has browned and cooked almost completely through.
- Then add your cauliflower, tomato sauce and spices to the saucepan. Mix thoroughly then cover.
- Let cook for about 10-12 minutes, stirring randomly to help incorporate all the flavors.
- Once your ropa vieja is done cooking, use a couple fork to shred your beef in the crockpot. Serve ropa vieja on top of cuban cauliflower rice
- Consume. A lot. Like Laura and I just did.
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Whoa…. I stumbled upon this page from google. And the nom factor of this recipe aside… you spell your name like I do. Weird. I’ve never met another Juli with no e. *high fives and walks away from computer to start cooking dinner*
You had me at Cuban. Fyi, this recipe forced me to go to BBB to buy a crockpot! It better be delicious.
Amazing dish!!! It is divine!
The Ropa Vieja was amazing, but I’m not totally sold on the rice. Might need a bit more tomato sauce.
I retract my previous statement. I let the rice simmer a bit longer and it turned out amazing! This recipe is definitely going to become a regular.
Made the “rice” tonight, and I was blown away! Even my 8 and 6 year olds couldn’t get enough. To bad we don’t have any leftovers!
Just finished having this for dinner. WOW delicious!!! I think it would also be great with a pork butt or shoulder instead of the beef. Added a little hot sauce to kick it up a notch. Thanks for another awesome recipe Juli! You are the best!
I just made the rice to have with shredded mexican style pork I had already made and the rice was fantastic. My wife who doesnt even like cauliflower loved it. Thanks Juli.
I’m making this right now! I can’t wait to try it! Thanks for posting!
I’m not strictly committed to the Paleo Diet but my husband is a firefighter and does CrossFit. He told me about the Paleo Diet and I’ve been intrigued for some time! We have a little boy and in my efforts to cook healthier meals for our family I’ve been trying your recipes and we love them! This one was a hit (I held off on the capers for the kid), even with our non-Paleo guests! Thank you for these recipes. I will be buying your cookbook and spreading the word. Hopefully by then I’ll be looking and feeling better to show off the benefits of eating ‘cleaner!’