This dish is pure fall comfort.

And the most comforting thing about it is the ease of making it in a slow cooker and coming home from a long, hard day to the wonderful smells of apples and spices.

The only bother you'll have is browning the meat and then cooking it on the HIGH setting of your cooker for an hour before you leave it on LOW for 7 or 8 (or if you're in my job, 9 and counting) more hours. But if you start it early enough in the morning, you'll just have time to switch the setting as you race out the door.

ROAST PORK WITH APPLES

One 3- to 4-pound pork loin roast, boned and tied, trimmed of fat and blotted dry

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

6 to 7 tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and quartered

1/4 cup apple juice, fruity wine or champagne

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

Preheat the broiler. Season the pork roast with salt and pepper and place on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Brown it on all sides under the broiler or in a skillet over high heat to remove excess fat; drain well.

Coat a medium to large slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Put the apple quarters in the cooker and set the roast on top of them. Combine the apple juice, brown sugar and ginger in a small bowl and spoon over the roast, rubbing it all over. Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 hour.

Reduce the setting to LOW and cook until fork tender, about 7-8 hours. Transfer the pork to a warm platter and let rest 10 minutes. Slice and serve warm. Serve apples alongside.

From "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker," by Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann. Serves 6 to 8.

Per serving: 489 calories, 31 grams protein, 32 grams fat, 12 grams saturated fat, 20 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram fiber, 119 milligrams cholesterol, 41