Sometimes It Doesn't Take Much for Dinner...

Last night, I had a migraine, so I made a pretty darn simple dinner. And it was a hit. Go figure.

First, I had a chuck roast (my husband has done the grocery shopping a couple times this past month, and every time, he's picked up a pot roast. Not my favorite meal, but he's had this thing about buying one each time he goes to the store). So here I am with yet ANOTHER pot roast, and I need an easy, quick way to get the darn thing in the oven. Something that doesn't involve mushrooms and gravy AGAIN. :-)

I flip open my Taste of Home cookbook and what do you know. There's a recipe. Instead of Garlic Salt, I used McCormick's Garlic/Parsley blend and some kosher salt, but otherwise, I stuck to the recipe. That link is to theirs, this is mine:

Spicy Chuck Roast

1 3-pound chuck roast

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon-pepper seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
3/4 teaspoon McCormick garlic/parsley seasoning

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine seasonings in a bowl, rub over roast. In a small bowl, combine the seasonings; rub over roast. Bake, uncovered, for 2 hours, until desired doneness (to me, that's when the meat stops mooing ;-), or is no longer pink inside). I always use a meat thermometer and like it to be medium-well (165 degrees). Let stand on a cutting board for 10 minutes so the juices can go back into the meat before you cut it.

While the meat was cooking I made a pasta salad. You can buy this in a box and make it, but I wanted to do this whole homemade thing.

Pepperoni Pasta Salad

16-ounces tri-color rotini

1 small can sliced black olives

8 ounces California blend frozen veggies (broccoli, cauliflower and carrots)

fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 to 1/2 cup Italian dressing

Pepperoni slices to taste

Cook pasta, remove from water (I use one of those insert pasta cooking things), rinse with cold water, then cook the veggies until al dente. Mix the pasta with the veggies, adding the pepperoni and olives in layers, along with the Italian dressing 1/3 at a time (so you don't have this huge amount of salad to toss at once. I find it easier to do it 1/3, then 1/3, then the last 1/3). Top with Parmesan cheese. Chill until ready to serve.

Personally, I add a lot of Pepperoni because I really love it :-) and my kids do too. I tell them it's like pasta pizza. They buy the story. Maybe because there's like no other dinner choices.

Anyway, I had that with some dinner rolls I picked up at the grocery (and threw in the oven after the roast came out, so they were almost like restaurant rolls...pretty darn close). It was easy, fast, and took nearly zero work.

Now THAT's the kind of dinner I like. ;-)

Shirley