I have a confession to make. I am a meat hoarder. Don’t laugh! I’m serious! Ok, I’m laughing too. Our freezer is packed with various meats. I think it comes from a combination of Alex eating his weight in protein everyday and my lust for a good deal. Anytime a specific cut is on sale I will stock up. Our local commissary had bacon on sale the other day for .29 cents a package (they were about to expire), I bought twenty packages and froze them.

All the way in the back of the freezer I found a 3.5 pound topside of beef. Normally, I save these big cuts for days when I am way too busy to make a thought-out meal. This is when I bust out the trusty crock pot and set-it-and-forget-it. Today is not one of those days! I have been wanting to dabble around with making homemade lunch meats, store bought ones are just so full of sodium and preservatives. So I made this simple medium rare beef roast and I’m using the left overs (thinly sliced) as lunch meat snacks for Alex…and maybe Axel if he’s a good boy.

This recipe actually wasn’t much harder than my crock pot roast beef. I use a digital oven thermometer, so once the beef hit 120 degrees, I took it out of the oven. I definitely recommend one of those bad boys-less probing the meat and checking constantly to see if your roast is done. You can even get fancy and get a remote controlled one!

I love these easy dinners that you don’t have to watch like a hawk. They give you time to relax…or lay in bed with your husband and dog and take super cute pictures…

So back to the task at hand. Making a proper roast beef! With such simple ingredients, I would recommend getting the best quality meat and freshest veggies you can find. I even used fresh herbs from my patio garden! Here is a great link to a list of different types of cuts that are great for roasts from Canadian Living.

Don’t worry too much about getting your mirepoix cut too small, since it’s roasting in the oven for around an hour you want them to be more bite-sized so they don’t end up burning under the beef. I even leave the garlic whole, just smashed. I also love fresh herbs….in the words of the great Chef Travis Brust: When in doubt, herb it out.

From past experience working in a hotel that served banquets to hundreds of people a night, one of the biggest mistakes cooks make with meat is seasoning. Especially on thicker cuts, you really have to season them well. Just think about all the meat on the inside that doesn’t get seasoned, you have to make up for that on the outside. Also, only use kosher salt or natural sea salt. In all seriousness, iodized salt is the devil. Yes, the devil.

Basically, your veggies on the bottom of the pan are going to make an edible rack to hoist up the beef. All those yummy beef juices will drizzle down and the flavors will mingle with the fresh herbs, carrots, mushrooms, onions, garlic, shallots and celery. Not to mention your house will smell amazing. I normally serve these roasted veggies as a side to the beef, but if you are feeling a little adventurous you can always use them to flavor a pan sauce to serve with the roast. I find that the meat is juicy enough that I don’t miss a sauce.