So it seems like Sunday evenings are turning into ‘cook-whatever-I-happen-to-feel-like-and-invite-a-friend-(or-two)-to-hang-out-while-I-prep’ evenings.
Last week was the rockin’ capicolla, lemon, & fresh sage chicken…this week it was supposed (emphasis on ‘supposed’) to be a very traditional roast beef dinner.
Until I encountered some gorgeous blue potatoes, and perfect sweet potatoes. At which point everything went south, in a good way (of course!)
Had the roast ready to go, but decided to smear it w/ a spice rub of chipotle peppers, cloves, coriander, & fresh lime zest + juice. And of course, made waaaay too much of the spice rub…so spiral cut & slashed the beef, spread the spice rub all over, rolled it up, tied it tight, spread the rest of the rub over the outside but was a wee bit unhappy w/ how it looked.
Rummaged around in the cupboards and decided to continue w/ the south of the border theme started by those darned chipotles and rolled the spiced rubbed roast in red whole quinoa seeds. Pre-heated my ever faithful cast iron skillet, tossed the chunked blue & sweet potatoes w/ grapeseed oil, cinnamon, black pepper, & ground coriander, made a nest, & snuggled the quinoa coated roast into the middle.
Cranked the oven to 500°, waited oh-so-impatiently for the little red light to go off, put the skillet in, dropped the heat down to 300° & went home to change.
Got back to the kitchen & started playing w/ the salad. I knew I wanted to use baby arugula, and mango, but wasn’t sure of what all else. Finally decided on ribbons of golden sweet mangoes, julienned red peppers, shredded shiso leaves, toasted almonds, fresh lime juice, extra virg olive oil, and a touch of sea salt. Mixed it all together w/ a bit of organic apple cider vinegar & let it sit. Added the mango mix to baby arugula, tossed it, piled it into bowls, and we dug in.
While that was being devoured I did a quick mix of light feta, oregano, lemon zest, extra virg olive oil, & rough chopped kalamata olives, spread it on split ciabatta baguettes, ran it under the broiler till toasty, drizzled them w/ a little more extra virg olive oil, then sliced them into ‘fingers’ that we snacked on while the beef was resting.
And it was soooo cool how the quinoa seeds that slipped off the roast cooked in the beef juices mixed w/ the chipotle & lime…mmmmmmmm. Mixed’em all in w/ the blue & sweet potatoes (blue were a bit of a disappointment cuz they went a little grey…but still tasted great!) and served the sliced beef on a bed of the potatoes/quinoa w/ a drizzle of juices & cooked quinoa seeds over top.
I am so blessed w/ guinea pigs in my life….thank you, merci beaucoup, to my guest this evening!!!
Pics to be added asap!
food_by_chanty 