Pork Roast Over Roasted Green Beans and Onions with Hasselback Potatoes

Well I found a great sale on a pork roast at the store the other day and snagged it up.  The pork roast was easy as it came seasoned, my conundrum was the side dishes.

I had potatoes in the pantry...now what different "thing" can I make with a potato.   I finally decided on hasselback potatoes which I hadn't made in quite a while.  They are crispy and fluffy all at the same time.  Start by melting 4 tablespoons of butter with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and add 2-3 garlic cloves.

After you get the butter melting, take out that spare set of chopsticks you brought back from your last take-out.  Put one chopstick on each side of a potato, you can peel it or not.

Now I've found that the first four or five 1/4" cuts you have to do free hand and then you can use the chopsticks as a guide.  You want to cut 1/4" slices that go almost through but not all the way through the potato.  It should resemble a potato fan.  Place the cut potatoes on a foil lined pan.

Fan open the potatoes and brush on some of the melted butter/oil/garlic and place in a 400 degree oven.  It's time for the pork roast and veggies.

I decided that sliced onions and green beans under the roast would be a great bed and the roasted flavor of the veggies would be different.

I had half an onion in the refrigerator and a large bag of green beans.  I took just over 1/2 lb of green beans and cut them in half and then took the onion and sliced them thinly in half moons.  I tossed them in a bowl together with some olive oil and salt and pepper.  I then placed them on a lined pan and placed the roast on top and put it in the oven with the potatoes.  Oh, oh, oh the potatoes...we'll get back to those in a minute.

Okay, now that I've got the roast in the oven it's time to refocus on the potatoes.  These are needy potatoes.  They are not a prep and ignore.  Every 10-15 minutes they must be pulled out of the oven and basted with the butter/olive oil in the pan or on the stove, fanning the potato the best you can.

Once the roast is in it's good to go, I placed an internal thermometer in the thickest part of the roast and set it for 155...yes it could be lower but I've found most internally set thermometers are off by about 10-15 degrees compared to my instant read digital thermometer.  I continue to baste the potatoes every 10-15 minutes, and on the 3rd baste I flip the potato over to sit and roast in the butter/olive oil "pool" in the pan...this is why I lined it!!

Once the roast is at 155 take it out and tent it with some foil.

As the roast rests for 20 minutes continue flipping and basting the potato...once the roast has rested uncover it and carve it adding the veggies on the side with the potato.

Dinner is served....