Cilantro Crusted Roast Beef

Friends, I forgot to photograph my delicious roast right out of the oven. I forgot again when I was packing up the leftovers. I will have to make it again as proof. But, leaning on one grain of hope that you will believe me when I say I made Roast Beef for dinner on Friday, I took a picture of Saturday's lunch--French Dips with leftover roast beef. This was a fantastic way to use the leftovers! You can purchase McCormick Spice mixes of Au Jus that you just heat and mix with water. Then grab the $1.99 loaf of french bread at the store, add a few slices of beef and serve. Fantastic! Those little cups you see there I got at Crate & Barrel at one point and they are really great for dipping--I recommend using a shallow bowl that is round enough to fit much of the sandwich and fits on the dippers plate to make less of a mess. I believe this dish was meant for soy sauce originally.

The first night, I roasted the beef with a cilantro-garlic crust for only about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Can you believe it doesn't actually take all day? I added potatoes to the pan and then at the very end asparagus. I think probably you'd want to add the asparagus a little earlier than the very end, but I didn't really plan ahead at all for that one.

Cilantro-Crusted Roast Beef (as found on the food network by Ingrid Hoffmann)
Ingredients:
2 cups fresh cilantro leaves (1 1/2 bunches about)
6 cloves garlic
1 t celery seed (I just omitted this because I didn't have it)
2 t couarse salt
1/2 t pepper
1 3lb boneless rump roast (it will take more time if you are over the 3lb weight)
1lb yellow potatoes
1 T italian seasoning
1 T olive oil
salt
pepper
1 bunch asparagus

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325
2. In a mini chopper or food processor combine first 5 ingredients and pulse into a smooth paste
3. Rub mixture over the meat covering all the meat sides (ignore fat side - in fact you cut off the fat side if you prefer).
4. Let meat sit covered with plastic wrap at least 10 minutes on the counter to rest and drink in the marinade
5. Meanwhile, cut up potatoes into medium-sized wedges. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and italian seasoning on a rimmed baking sheet. Push the potatoes to the edges of the sheet to make room for the roast, try to keep a single layer of potatoes
6. Roast the beef for about 1 1/2 hours, tossing the potatoes on occasion until meat reaches 120 degrees for medium rare. *If you want to roast the asparagus, add on top of the potatoes in a single layer for the last 30 minutes (or more) of cooking.
7. Let beef rest for 10 minutes before slicing thinly and serving with potatoes and asparagus