Rosemary Roast Lamb

Sunday dinner. In some places they still have it. The idea of family all in one place at one time, loving each other and eating great warm plates of home-cooked bliss. Mmmmmmm.

Does your family like meat and potatoes? They will give this a huge thumbs up. Why? Garlic and meat juices with rosemary infuse new potatoes, green beans and tomatoes to make a lamb dish that is buttery and yet tastes fresh at the same time. You instinctively know it's good and good for you. --Adapted from "The Healthy Gourmet's Guide to Light Eating"

Ingredients:

1 leg of lamb (6-7 lbs) trimmed of all fat and oven-ready
2 cloves garlic, cut into 3 slivers each
1 t olive oil
2 t dried rosemary (or more)
1 t salt (I use about 2 t)
1 -1/2 t black pepper
1 lb new potatoes, washed and peeled thru the middle (see picture)
1 lb fresh green beans
1 C chicken broth (full salt is best, but use low-sodium if you like)
2 1/2 C sliced white or yellow onions
1 can (16 oz) tomatoes, drained
1/2--1 t garlic powder (your taste)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. With a sharp knife, make 6 small incisions in the thickest part of the meat and insert garlic slivers. My friend Denise Aspinal, who is half Italian, taught me to do this when I was 22. I've been doing it on all roasts of any kind ever since. I am impatient, so it is hard for me. Is anybody else out there impatient? Just be glad I'm not a surgeon...

Rub meat with oil. I mean really massage it. Cook with love. Sprinkle with rosemary, 1/2 t salt, and 1 t pepper; press seasonings into the meat. Put meat in a large roasting pan (the biggest you have) and roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Don't eat it now, you're not done cooking yet!

Surround meat with potatoes and green beans, making two little piles of each. Pour chicken broth over vegies and sprinkle with onions, tomatoes, remaining salt, remaining pepper and garlic powder. I like garlic, so I use at least 1 t. Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake for an additional 1 hour and 10 minutes. Meat will be medium rare to medium, and internal temperature will register 150 degrees on a meat thermometer. Don't overcook! The meat police will come and get you!

Carve and arrange meat on a platter surrounded with vegetables.