Where's the beef?

We have been trying to eat healthy around here lately. Summer is coming and it is time to trim off some of the winter weight. This house has has been overrun with chicken and light dishes for weeks. Finally it is starting to get to us (well mainly my husband) and we, like Clara Peller want to know "Where's the beef?".

Sometimes I miss that old woman. I don't really ever have eaten at Wendy's other than the occasional Frosty, but I remember the commericals really making me want to go in and take advantage of that big Super Bar they used to have. Ahh memories.




 I decided to find a way for us to meet our steak cravings, but still have a light dinner. Grilled Lemongrass Steak salad was the perfect fit. The meat is sliced thinly and layered on salad greens for a hearty yet healthy meal and I got to cook it outside on our grill. Not heating up the house to cook is definitely a bonus with the unseasonably warm weather we are having here. Unseasonably warm is never a good thing in Central Texas. That means we have gone from really warm to gates of hell hot. Ok, 95 degrees in mid-April is not really gates of hell hot, but it sure makes me nervous about summer.

Anyway, back to the steak.  I used a large top sirloin steak and marinated it in diced lemon grass, soy sauce, lemon juice and cayenne pepper.


Everything was mixed together and the steak marinated for a couple hours.


The steak was grilled for about  7 minutes on each side for medium rare. When I flipped the steak, I poured the last of marinade over the top. After letting the steak rest for about 15 minutes, I sliced it thinly.

Yes, I know it is still very pink in the middle. Here is my secret. We didn't eat it on the day I cooked it. I had the grill on and was making a ton of other things like grilled veggies and Spice Island chicken so I just added it on.  I put the sliced meat in the fridge and we had it the next day. I pulled it off early because I knew that reheating it later would cook the meat a bit more.


I served this on a bed of salad greens with shredded carrots and a touch of clilantro. Delicious!!!


Check out this and other posts like it on Tasty Tuesday.

Beef Gone Spicy- California Thai Sirloin

This was the first time that I tried the California Thai Sirloin. The smells that came from preparing this dish were unreal. The meat was marinated in a flavor mix of aromatics that made my house smelled amazing.

This is the bowl of amazing smelling goodness.

It was mint, basil and red onion.

The liquid mix contains rice vinegar, sesame oil, lime juice and soy sauce.

The wet and dry ingredients were mixed together and crushed peanuts were added.

The recipe calls for 3 tablespoon of chili paste, but I am kind of a wimp and I was feeding this to my kids so all I could handle was about a teaspoon.

I marinated the meat for about 8 hours and it was so flavorful.

I put a large skillet on to heat up.

I poured the marinade into a saucepan and boiled it for 10 minutes to thicken and take care of any chance of bacteria. 

The meat was cooked on each side for 5 minutes.

I let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing it thinly and putting it over salad greens.

This was really good and definitely a family favorite. Next time I might even add for chili paste. Oh and this was a great one to make and freeze. Just make the marinade and freeze the meat in it!

California-Thai Sirloin

1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup rice wine
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
3 tablespoons sliced lemon grass
3 tablespoons crushed peanuts
3 tablespoons chile paste
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 pounds flank steak

In a large bowl, combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, rice wine, lime juice and sesame oil. Stir in onion, basil, mint, lemon grass and crushed peanuts. Season with chile paste, coriander and garlic salt.

Layer steak with marinade. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight.

Spray a large sheet of aluminum foil with non-stick cooking spray. Drain liquid from marinade. Layer meat on foil with the remaining non-liquid marinade ingredients. Fold edges of foil to seal

To Freeze: Freeze in freezer safe container.

To Reheat: Defrost. Preheat outdoor grill at medium-high heat, lightly oil grate. Cook foil packs for 20 minutes.

Harvest Meat Pockets

This recipe is a great one for the kids. My little ones love food that can be held in their hands and this one has a bonus of being fun shaped! My 10 year old had a great time making these and I got a night off.

There isn't really a specific recipe for this super simple dinner, but this is how we made them. We mixed about 1 cup of seasoned ground beef with a cup of ricotta, garlic salt and Italian seasoning.

Then I rolled out the pie dough that I had diligently worked on all afternoon. Ok, just kidding. I sent my husband to the store for a box of ready crusts. For customers I will make dough, but when I am going to be letting the 10 year old cook I don't put in that much effort. Yes, call me lazy, but it was a great shortcut and one I would recommend when you don't have the time to make your own dough. We used pumpkin and turkey shaped cookie cutters to make the shapes.

The cut shapes were placed on a cookie sheet. About a tablespoon of meat mixture gets placed on the dough shape.

The top shape was then laid over the top of the meat and pressed down on the edges. I would suggest rolling the rolling pin over the cut top shape a bit to stretch it out a bit. This will help it to cover the meat and bottom shape fully.

The meat pockets were cooked for 15 minutes at 350.  We served them with a tangy marinara. The kids enjoyed them and the 10 year old was excited to have made dinner. Personally, I was happy to have a night off!

 This is one of the turkey ones made by my 10 year old. Not bad for someone so young!

There is an endless amount of variations that can be made to this recipe. We have had them filled with taco seasoned meat, tomato and Monterry Jack and dipped into salsa. I have hidden enough veggies in these that a friend always asks what I am sneaking her when she tries my treats! My favorite thing to do is add a a bit of pureed carrot and some frozen spinach to the meat mixture.

Let me know if you have tried these or if you have any ideas for variations. I am always looking for great filling ideas.