Beef!

I wish it were what's for dinner.

I'm picturing a three pound roast, coated in olive oil and fresh basil.

Yes, I have basil in my garden. Why don't you?

Oh yeah, that's too much like work and you dear reader, are lazy. You probably think one of those meals-in-a-box is eating well.

I love the smell, texture and colors of basil. Right now all I have is sweet basil, which is a start. One of my sisters has a cinnamon basil plant. The tea from this variety is excellent!

Okay, back to the roast:

Take 1 cup of your fresh basil, just picked and washed, (Please wash it, it gathers dirt sitting there in the ground) chop it up coarsely. It should be 1/2 to 3/4 cup now.

Put it in a blender or food processor with 1/2 cup of olive oil. Process until you have a thickish green paste.

Presto, Pesto!

Now rub the paste on the roast and place it in a roasting pan, preferably on a rack so the juices will run to the bottom for a very interesting gravy.

Bake at 350° for a 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the juices are pink. Not TOO pale! Rare is a divine experience.

You should now have a roast with a funny green crust. If not, no worry, the flavor will still be there.

Take it out of the oven, this is important.

Let it sit for 10 to 20 minutes before cutting into it;

1. So you don't burn yourself!
2. Letting it sit and cool for a bit allows you to slice it very thin. Thin is good, as far as slices of roast beef go.

I suggest mashed potatoes, (the real thing, not out of a box, that's sooo nasty) I like to leave some of the skin on, but usually not all, it makes it hard to mash/whip them.

I also like to put chopped onions, sauted until they start to carmelize, on the potatoes after you've got them all mashed with WHOLE milk and REAL BUTTER. Don't forget a bit of salt and lots of fresh ground black pepper.
It looks nice, and tastes total YUM.

Other veggies could be green beans (fresh is great, canned is ok), carrots, fresh ONLY ( I abhor canned or frozen carrots) corn on the cob, whatever appeals to you.

I'd go into summer squash sauted with onions, but this could go on forever!

Don't forget the gravy!

After you've removed the roast from the pan, you'll have drippings in the bottom. Pour in 2 cups of hot water and let it soak for a few minutes. Don't forget to take the rack out! Using a heat-resistant spatula/whatever you call it, scrape the brown bits up.

In a saucepan, make a roue. For the 2+ cups of liquid you'll want to use:
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup plain (NOT self-rising) flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon of fresh-ground pepper

Mix together the flour, salt and pepper.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, sprinkle the flour mixture over the top, using a whisk to mix it into the melted butter.

You can let this brown a bit, but it'll do it fast, so be careful!

Once the roue is ready, slowly pour in the drippings and water mixture, whisking as you do. The drippings and water should be cooled off enough to not create a huge glob of paste when you do this, but the roue usually prevents that from happening.

Keep stirring the gravy until it thickens. Pour into a gravy boat and sail away to dinner.

This meal rates a 42 on my YUM factor scale. (The scale goes from 1 to 50 - 100 is reserved for certain men, you know who you are!)

For dessert a nice light sorbet, freshly made, is highly recommended - should you have any room.