Balsamic Pot Roast

My parents make some pretty mean steaks. My mom always preps the marinade and my dad presides over the grill. I loved the flavor of the meat as a kid, but if there was any resistance at all when I chewed, out it came. Chewy meat wasn’t my thing.
My sweet dad, though, wanted me to like steak, so he would give me the most tender fillet pieces out of his T-bone. Now that I have children of my own—one of whom is a daughter who is similar to me (including textural issues)—I find myself giving her the best bites of steak too.
I love my parents’ steak marinade so much that I made it into a pot roast recipe—replacing the soy sauce with coconut aminos and balsamic vinegar to make it soy-free. Now I have an entire pot of incredibly tender meat!

Prep time 15 minutes
Serves 6

2- to 3-pound (900 g to 1.4 kg) beef roast
1 tablespoon (18 g) sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup (120 ml) Homemade Beef Stock
1/4 cup (60 ml) coconut aminos
1/4 cup (60 ml) balsamic vinegar
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 lemon, juiced
Mashed sweet potatoes or Rosemary-Garlic Mashed Potatoes, for serving

1 Rub the beef roast with the salt and pepper.
2 Place it in a 4-quart (3.8 liter) slow cooker. Add the remaining ingredients except the lemon juice over the beef.
3 Cover and cook on low for 7 to 9 hours, until the beef is tender and pulls apart easily with a fork.
4 Remove the beef from the cooker, shred it with a couple of forks, and return the meat to the cooker to soak up some of the cooking juices.
5 Sprinkle the lemon juice over the top of the beef, and serve the beef and juices over mashed potatoes.