Roast Beef with Ratatouille

It wasn't Angus beef but it was enough for two dinners for two for $6 so I figured we could live with it.  Since the roast wasn't going to be the star I needed the vegetables to carry more of the flavor load. I had everything but mushrooms so I picked up 6.

I used my beef rub on the meat, seared it and popped it in the oven.  Mashed potatoes. I don't remember if I ever described how to make them so here goes.  Peel them, rinse them, cut them into less than one inch pieces, cover them with cold water in a pot with half a teaspoon of salt, bring to a boil then turn down to gentle boil. When a fork pierces them easily, drain them, mash them, add a pad of butter and a little salt.  With a fork stir in an ounce of milk, add more if it's too dry. I would have added chives on top but I was running late due to the ratatouille.

For the vegetables I wanted max flavor so I diced an onion and fried it golden then removed it from the pan.  Next I fried the mushrooms to give them a nice sear and put them aside. Then the crinkle cut zucchini got some color and was taken out.  Finally I put the carrots and celery in to sweat a little then I added some chicken stock and boiled it mostly off.  This dissolved the residue from all the searing and brought all that flavor back into the dish.  Put everything back in and add a diced tomato and keep tossing till it's hot. Add a little salt and pepper and serve. It takes a few minutes extra to sear the vegetables individually but it gets the best results so it's worth it if you have the time.