Southwestern Flank Steak

So, I said I wasn't going to do every night's dinner, but this one is one of my new favorites. 

We like to throw it in whole wheat tortillas, add a little fat free sour cream and call them fajitas.  I'm thinking a little avocado would be great too. 

Sometimes I make a little Spanish rice to go with it, but tonight we cooked up the rest of the corn and some watermelon.  (Oh, and if I had a recipe for the Spanish rice, I'd happily share that.  It's one of those a little of this, a little of that things I learned from Carrie)

All the food on my plate? 

8 points.

And I'm stuffed.

One of the best parts - the meat has to be grilled, so Tom gets to do that and it makes dinner easy on me. 

So here's the recipe:

Southwestern Flank Steak
Serves 4, 5 points per serving

Marinade -
2 T. fresh lime juice
1.5 t. vegetable oil
2 medium garlic cloves, crushed
2 t. chili powder
2 t. ground cumin (but I only use a little over 1 because I don't like too much of the cumin flavor)
1/2 t. salt

Other ingredients -
1 pound flank steak (trimmed of any visible fat)
1/2 t. vegetable oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 large onion, thinly sliced

Combine marinade ingredients and rub mixture all over a one pound flank steak. 
Wrap and refrigerate for 6 hours or so (even better, we try to let it marinate overnight)

Preheat grill - unwrap steak (I'm hoping you figured that part out before you put it on the grill)
Cook steak over medium hot coals until desired doneness - generally about 8 to 10 minutes per side for medium (flank steak is way better a little pink in the middle, and can get tough if you cook them too long).
Allow meat to rest a few minutes before slicing.

While the meat is resting, heat a half teaspoon of oil in a large skillet, and add the red bell pepper and onion.  Cook until tender, but not mushy (remember - we don't like mushy, overcooked veggies)

Now comes the good part - serving: thinly slice steak diagonally across the grain.  We like to put the meat on in one bowl and the onion/peppers in another so people can decide how much of each they want. 

I think the meat on it's own would be great, maybe with a salad and some sort of spicy dressing.  You could probably even do it as a sandwhich.

And the leftovers - they're just as good.  If you have a little leftover Spanish rice, throw that in a bowl, add the meat and leftover peppers and - voila! - rice bowl.  Perfect for taking to work.

Unless you're Tom and you forget it until it turns moldy in the fridge.

Oh, and I think the marinade would totally work for tri-tip or maybe even chicken, but you might want to make a little more.

Comments

[Grammy]

Boy, it does sound good. There is a recipe that Cindy put in the George Cookbook for flanked steak. She has made it for all of us. Do you remember? Love Gram.

[Sam]

Aunt Cindy's flank steak recipe is still one of my favorites! I'll have to work up the points on that and make it sometime, then take pictures and share :)