We were in the grocery store standing over a selection of meat and neither of us had the slightest idea what to make for dinner. Then we saw a bone-in pork loin and decided that, even though we had never worked with one before, why not?

And this seemed like a pretty no-fail way to try a new cut of pork – because you can't go wrong with root vegetables, asparagus, thyme and rosemary.

Bone-in Pork Loin With Roasted Root Vegetables and Asparagus

5 pound bone-in pork loin

1 tablespoon butter

¼ cup of olive oil

2 teaspoons of chopped fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon of fresh thyme

2 carrots

3 medium red potatoes

1 bunch of asparagus

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Melt butter, olive oil and herbs and spread the mixture over the pork loin. Cook the pork loin for an hour, and then add the chopped potatoes and carrots to the pan. Add more olive oil to coat the vegetables, and roast for another 45 minutes. Then break the ends off of the stalks of asparagus, and place them in the roasting pan. Toss the asparagus with the olive oil and juices in the pan. Cook the pork and vegetables for an additional 15 minutes. The pork will be done when it reaches 160 degrees on a meat thermometer.

The pork sliced down into elegant chops, and the vegetables were perfectly browned. I deglazed the pan with white wine to make a sauce and we are on our second day of pork, vegetables and pan sauce. But, I think that I'm going to be smart and freeze the rest, because summer is fast approaching and in 2 months we probably won't want to run the oven for two hours.

(Photos by Launie Kettler)