Devin Alexander’s Easy-As-Can-Be Pot Roast Supper

Devin says using baby potatoes and baby carrots make this recipe a cinch - and using foil saves on clean up!

Devin says: I love using tiny potatoes and baby carrots, which makes this recipe insanely easy. That said, sometimes tiny potatoes cost a minor fortune. If that’s the case, save money by using larger boiling potatoes. You’ll have to spend time cutting them into cubes, but it might make sense.

You don’t have to use the nonstick foil here if you have a really good nonstick roasting pan, but it makes cleanup almost nonexistent, so I swear by it.

This recipe makes 6 servings. Hands-on time: 9 minutes, hands-off time: time to preheat the oven, plus 30 to 40 minutes.

Ingredients:
11/2 pounds baby carrots
2 pounds red or white potatoes; cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
Sea salt and pepper
One 13/4-pound trimmed top round roast
51/2-ounce can tomato juice (I used Campbell’s)
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2 medium onions, trimmed, peeled, and cut into quarters

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Line a large roasting pan with nonstick aluminum foil. Add the carrots and potatoes.
Drizzle 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of the olive oil over the vegetables and season them with salt and pepper.
Toss just to combine, then distribute them in an even layer in the bottom of the pan, leaving room for the roast in the center.
Rub the roast all over with the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil, then season it with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Set it in the center of the veggies and pour the juice evenly over all. Sprinkle the thyme over the top.
Roast the meat, carrots, and potatoes for 18 minutes. Then, stir the potatoes and carrots (if using nonstick foil, be careful not to tear it). Separate the onion quarters into pieces. Scatter them over the potatoes and carrots. Continue roasting until a meat thermometer inserted in the center of the roast reads 125°F; for medium rare, about 15 to 20 minutes more.
Carefully transfer the roast to a platter.
Loosely tent the roast with foil for 10 minutes while the juices redistribute internally.
If the veggies are not tender, rotate them one more time and continue roasting, up to 10 minutes more.
Slice the meat into thin slices against the grain and serve immediately with the veggies.

Nutritional info: Each (about 4 ounces beef plus 2 cups vegetables) serving has: 345 calories, 33 g protein, 42 g carbohydrates, 8 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 58 mg cholesterol, 7 g ?ber, 310 mg sodium.

Devin travels the country lecturing and consulting for major U.S. food and cookware companies. She’s on the Advisory Board of the American Culinary Federation’s Chef Child Foundation, Larry King Foundation’s Go-To-Chef to speak on “Obesity in America”, she recently returned from the White House as part of Michelle Obama’s, Chefs Move To Schools Program; and we are proud to have her as a contributor to SupermarketGuru.com - you can find her recipes and tips every Tuesday and visit her at www.devinalexander.com.

Recipe taken from I Can’t Believe It’s Not Fattening by Devin Alexander. Copyright c 2010 by Devin Alexander. Published by Broadway Books, a division of Random House.