Roast Beef with Peppers

I turned in my first Overdrive column this week. Eight hundred words about how to set up a truck cab kitchen. I wrote it at the kitchen table at 5 a.m. before anyone was awake, coffee in one hand, pencil in the other (I write longhand first, always have, always will, because the screen is too fast and the pencil is honest). Then I typed it on the family computer and emailed it and sat there for ten minutes feeling like I had sent a piece of myself into the world, which I had, which is what writing is — sending yourself into the world and hoping the world does not send you back.

Dave read it. He said, 'It's good.' From Dave, 'it's good' is a standing ovation and a bouquet of roses and a ticker-tape parade. I said thank you. He said, 'You should mention the engine block burrito.' I said I am saving that for column two. He nodded. This is collaboration in the Novak household: four sentences and a nod.

Amber has been babysitting this summer — the Hendersons down the street, two kids, five and three. She is good at it the way she is good at everything she decides to do: quietly, competently, without fanfare. She comes home smelling like juice boxes and Play-Doh and the particular exhaustion of someone who has been responsible for small humans for six hours. She is practicing, though she does not know it. She is practicing for the life she will have, the life where she takes care of people who need taking care of, because that is what Amber does, what Amber has always done, what Amber learned from watching me take care of her.

I made meatloaf. The recipe is ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, ketchup, onion, salt, pepper. Formed into a loaf, topped with more ketchup, baked at 350 for an hour. It is the most ordinary meal in America and I make it at least twice a month because ordinary is underrated and meatloaf is the culinary equivalent of a hug from someone who does not need to say I love you because the hug already said it. Tyler ate two slices. Justin ate three. The meatloaf disappeared the way meatloaf always disappears — completely, silently, without complaint.

The column went out into the world, Dave gave me his version of a standing ovation, and Amber came home smelling like someone else’s children — and all of it called for a dinner that did not need to explain itself. Meatloaf is what I made that night, but roast beef with peppers is its closest kin: humble, filling, the kind of thing that disappears off the pan before you’ve finished pouring the drinks. If ordinary is underrated, then a good beef roast surrounded by sweet peppers is the most underrated meal in America, and I will defend that position from the kitchen table at 5 a.m. with a pencil in my hand.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 30 min | Total Time: 1 hr 45 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 1/2 to 3 lb beef chuck roast
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, sliced into rings
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup beef broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dried thyme

Instructions

Preheat and season. Preheat oven to 325°F. Pat the roast dry with paper towels and season all over with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Sear the roast. Heat olive oil in a large oven-safe Dutch oven or roasting pan over medium-high heat. Sear the roast 3–4 minutes per side until a deep brown crust forms. Remove and set aside.
Soften the vegetables. In the same pan, add the onion and bell peppers. Cook over medium heat for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Build the braise. Stir in the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Nestle the seared roast on top of the peppers and onions.
Roast low and slow. Cover tightly with a lid or foil and roast in the preheated oven for 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes, until the beef is fork-tender and cooked through.
Rest and slice. Remove from the oven and let the roast rest uncovered for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve the peppers and pan juices spooned generously over the top.

Nutrition (per serving)

Roast Beef with Peppers — The Meal That Says Everything Without Saying a Word