Week Night Yum Yum: Roasted Beef with Cherry Tomatoes and Watercress Salad

Am so behind on blogging, but have some exciting stuff to share soon! Our vacation out east plus The Pirate Party coming up will be some great posts; I'm making some fabulous stuff for the party in particular that are seasonal and would work great for any Halloween parties coming up! But for now, some wonderful recipes to get you through the week...

First up we have a super simple roasted beef with cherry tomato and watercress salad. This is really fast to put together and tastes great. The beef gets doen in about 30 minutes or so (for medium rare) and the salad is sweet and savory, cool and crisp, and peppery from the watercress that just compliments the dinner perfectly. Get those leftover cherry tomotoes now while you can and make this dinner soon!

Roasted Beef with Cherry Tomato and Watercress Salad
1 (3-3/12 lb) beef roast -- rump, sirloin tip cut recommended
1/4 cup olive oil + more for salad
course sea salt
1 tsp red peppercorns
1 tsp green pepeprcorns
1 tsp white peppercorns
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 pint cherry tomatoes, washed and cut in half
1 large shallot, peeled and finely chopped
1/4 loosely packed fresh parsley leaves, removed from stems
splash of white balsamic vinegar
1 bunch watercress, trimmed of stems

First prepare the beef. Take out the roast and leave it on the counter to come to room temperature. Take the peppercorns and either pulse them in a spice grinder until coursely ground or place them all in a sandwich bag -- let all the air out and close, then take an empty wine bottle or wooden rolling pin and gently mash the corns until coursely ground. Place the peppercorns with salt to taste and the 1/4 cup of olive oil in a small bowl and mix to combine. Take this mixture and rub it all over the beef on all sides. Let stand about 30 minutes so flavors can infuse.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Take a large roasting pan or Dutch oven and preheat to high heat. Add the beef and sear it on all sides to form a brown crust -- this will help lock in the juices while it roasts. Once it's browned on all sides, pop in oven or transfer to an oven-proof baking dish and roast until a meat thermometer says 135-140 degrees for medium rare; 140 will give you medium-well on the sides and a perfect medium-rare in the middle. Remove from oven and let stand 15 minutes to rest. Prepare your salad.

Toss the tomatoes, shallot, and parsley with some salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Add the vinegar and some olive oil -- about a good tablespoon's worth -- and mix to combine. I like to serve the salad with the watercress leaves set out like a bed and the tomato mixture on top so people can take as much or as little of the peppery watercress as they desire; if you plan to eat the whole thing and love watercress, go ahead and toss it right in with the tomatoes into one big mixed salad.

Take the beef and slice it against the grain to desired thickness. Serve with the salad on the top or side.

I served mine with a side of tamale I had in the freezer, but a good fresh roll will do you just fine.