slow-cooked pork roast in balsamic, maple and herbs with a reduced pan sauce

Some mornings the whole day rides on getting one thing into a pot before you are fully upright. This roast asks for exactly that and nothing else: 5 minutes stirring balsamic, maple and dried herbs together, a turn of the meat so it is coated, and then it is out of your hands for 8 to 10 hours. On a day when standing at the stove by dinnertime is not in you, that is not a small mercy.

Pork shoulder cooked this long breaks down into meat that falls apart under a fork, and it leaves behind a pool of drippings loaded with the collagen its connective tissue releases as it softens. That collagen becomes part of what your gut lining draws on as it patches itself back together, work that matters when your immune system has been running hot for a long time. Pork also holds a good amount of selenium, a mineral your thyroid needs on hand to turn hormone into something your cells can put to work. Rosemary, thyme and sage bring real flavor without asking your protocol to flag anything, and the balsamic and maple reduce into something tangy and just barely sweet, not sugary.

Choose a pastured or well-raised animal when you can afford it, and let the smell filling the house by evening be its own quiet reward. You did almost nothing today and you are still going to eat well. That is worth noticing.

Ingredients

• 1 pork roast, about 4 lbs (shoulder or similar works well for slow cooking)
• 1 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 tablespoon sea salt
• 1/2 tablespoon dried rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage

(No AIP swaps needed. This ingredient list is AIP Core and seed-free as written.)

Method

Set the pork roast in the slow cooker. In a small bowl, stir together the balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, salt, dried rosemary, thyme and sage, then pour the mixture over the meat, turning the roast once so it is coated. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, until the pork is meltingly tender and pulls apart easily with a fork.

Lift the roast out and shred the meat, discarding any large pieces of fat. Pour the cooking liquid through a fine strainer into a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Let it bubble and reduce by about half, until it thickens into a glossy sauce.

Return the shredded pork to the warm cooking pot or a serving dish, spoon the reduced balsamic sauce over the top, and toss gently so every piece is coated. Serve warm.

Instant Pot variation

Because the slow cooker is the primary method here, an Instant Pot is the natural alternative when you want this faster. Set the roast in the pot, pour the balsamic, maple and herb mixture over it, and add a splash of water or broth if needed so the pot reaches pressure. Pressure cook on high, then let the pressure release naturally; the pork should shred easily when done. Remove and shred the meat, then use the Saute setting to reduce the strained cooking liquid by half into a sauce, and toss it with the pork. (Pressure-cook timing not given in the source and untested here; a 4 lb roast needs a long high-pressure cook, so verify the meat shreds easily before reducing the sauce.)

*Adapted from autoimmunewellness.com*