Marinated tuna steaks with cucumber sauce

You know how some days you're just not in the mood for life? Like if I could've pulled the covers over my head and made the world disappear this morning, it would've happened instantly. Not sure why...the rain on the roof makes it exceptionally hard to get out of bed, but besides that it's just a normal Tuesday. That I would like to skip. Usually a good workout will cure that, so I'm hoping the Kosama plyo day will take care of it for me this evening. Although, by that time the day is almost over anyway so it's a moot point. My only real cure for a day like this is to smile. Try it. If you make your face smile and make yourself look like a goon for no reason, your mood has no choice but to improve. I've told my mom this before....and it works. I'm doing it now and it makes me giggle. Something about the muscles activated to form a smile being directly connected to your mood elevation...either way, I'm telling you, it works. All better...now we can get to the fun stuff.

 

I've been loving me some seafood lately. It always sounds good, and I know it's good for me, so it usually wins the debate when we're talking about what we want for dinner the following week. Yeah, we discuss our menu on the weekend so I can get to the store and do prep work beforehand...then it's smooth sailing through the week with no one getting stressed about what's for dinner. It's poifect. This was a great one to start the week with, as I could marinate the tuna steaks, thaw the sweet corn, and have the cucumber sauce made...so the only thing needed to do was start the grill!

 

If you've never had tuna steak before, you better hop on this train. It's so dense, like a steak. But so light, like fish. Great taste and very lean too. You know what that means? Nom. Nom.

 

For the tuna:

 

3 T lime juice

2 T chopped cilantro

1 clove garlic

1/4 t salt

1 lb tuna steaks

 

For the sauce:

 

1/2 cup chopped cucumber

1/4 cup greek yogurt

2 T fresh cilantro

1 T olive oil mayo

 

Mix all the tuna ingredients up (besides the tuna) and pour the drizzle over the top to marinate overnight.

 

Mix all the sauce ingredients up and refrigerate.

When ready to cook, heat a grill pan, Griddler, or your outdoor grill to a high heat. Spray with non-fat cooking spray to prevent sticking. Pour the excess marinade on top of the tuna after you add it to the pan. Sear for 3-5 minutes on each side, removing when the tuna is cooked almost through. There should be pink in the middle, but the tuna should flake easily with a fork. Remove from heat, dallop with cucumber sauce, and serve!

Told ya. You can't get much easier than that for a weeknight meal. And if you can, invite me over for dinner and show me how. I could use the tips. I'm steadily working toward a world where all I have to do is put my fork in my mouth for dinner at night....and I'm getting closer and closer each day :)

Bison burgers and purple potatoes

Remember when I told you about Main Man's cholesterol issues? By the way, if you haven't tried the chicken phillies in that post, you're doing yourself a severe disservice in life.  Anyway, his cholesterol problems are not something that's going to go away overnight. We've needed to make some changes in everything, including my dude's love for the bovine genre of the food pyramid...namely, steaks. I've been doing some reading and it seems that bison is an extremely lean alternative to beef, and is even lower in calories and fat than chicken or turkey!! Say whaaaaaat?? The drawback is the price...it's perdy expensive. But I figure, if I can give my guy a beefy tasting burger or steak and have it actually helping his cholesterol numbers rather than hurting them, I'll gladly pay a little more for the extra years on his calendar :)

 

I wasn't just going to go buy a half a bison off the bat though...we gotta ease into this stuff. So we grabbed some bison burgers at Whole Foods to see if there was a distinct taste difference or not and we were very pleasantly surprised. Some people said bison has a "gamey" taste to it and I would completely disagree...granted, we ate a burger and not a steak, but I could barely taste a difference besides less grease. My next step is to order some more cuts to try for the upcoming grilling season, so I'll let you know how all that goes too. For now though, I just wanted to pass on the benefits of bison vs. beef as it was something that I had never known existed as a substitute before a little research...

 

NUTRITION

	Fat (grams )	Calories (kcal)	Cholesterol (mg)	Iron (mg)	Vitamin B12 (mcg)
Bison	2.42	143	82	3.42	2.86
Beef (choice)	10.15	219	86	2.99	2.65
Beef (select)	8.09	201	86	2.99	2.64
Pork	9.66	212	86	1.1	0.75
Chicken (skinless)	7.41	190	89	1.21	0.33
Sockeye Salmon	10.97	216	87	0.55	5.80
Source: USDA

 

I realize Lance isn't the most popular dude on the playground these days, but I do use the Livestrong site alot for calorie estimations, etc...head over there if you want a little more detail on the differences between beef and bison.

 

Now about those purple things on the plate there...yes, those are taters. Purple taters. Purple taters that lower your blood pressure. Yes, sirree. I've been trying to read about substitutions for other things as well...starches being one important one. Whole wheat is recommended for all breads and pastas when you have high cholesterol, but there's no such thing as a wheat potato. At least not yet, but it's only 2013. It turns out though, that these little gems can actually lower your blood pressure. Plus, they taste mighty nice when they're tossed in a little olive oil, fresh cracked salt and pepper, and rosemary and then roasted till you can stick a fork through them. Rosemary is to potatoes what mac is to cheese. One of those couples that is just meant to be together. That marriage will last, folks. Just like mine and Main Man's :)

 

So all in all, what tasted and looked like a super hearty cheat meal actually turned out to be a cheating skinnier version of a hearty not really cheating meal. Get it? Then go get it. Your meat and tater loving husband will thank you! Maybe he'll even go to hot yoga with you like mine did last weekend?? He's my favorite feller...

Marinated pork loin

Main Man actually executed this meal so I will give him full credit, and credit is needed to be given to someone for this masterpiece!  I have started buying small pork loins to marinate and throw on the grill since they are fairly cheap and very easy to throw together for dinner. Plus, Main Man gets all excited when he knows we're having a big hung of meat for dinner...must be a guy thing. This one was a throw together marinade of things I had in the house...I've gotten pretty good at discovering what will penetrate the meat well after all my marinations this summer, if I do say so myself, (and I do). No messing around Monday....let's get to it!

 

white balsamic vinegar (sweeter and less bitter than normal balsamic)

soy sauce

olive oil

lime juice

garlic powder

cracked pepper

cayenne pepper (optional, but we like a little kick in the panties)

 

I didn't really measure the ingredients, just threw them together and put a finger in there to taste after I mixed it up...that's the best way to cook, in my opinion! :) I put the loin in a large plastic baggie and dumped the mixture onto it to marinate overnight. When I got home from visiting the hospital the next night, Main Man had dinner on the table ready to be served. He actually took our meat syringe and injected the loin with the excess marinade before grilling, which I think was an excellant idea that really enhanced the flavor of the meat.

 

ALWAYS, always, always let your meat rest before slicing into it after grilling or you will lost all your juice, and that's no way to ruin a hunk of beatiful meat! This was a perfect Friday night in meal for the hubs and I...those pork loins in our freezer better be worried about their fate :)

 

Last long week before the holiday, I hope everyone has their shopping done, their menus planned, and Im (not so secretly) hoping for some snow to grace our presence for a traditional white Christmas...it just doesn't feel right this year with the warm weather we've had!  Happy Monday, all!

 

Pepperoncini goat cheese chicken

This is one of the simplest recipes I've found in a food magazine in my life. It sounded good but I'll admit the only reason I tried it was because it had 3 ingredients, and I had a plethora of one of them coming from my garden at the time. Pepperoncinis are absolutely perfect to dice up on a salad, or put in an omelette, but what else do you really do with them? You dice them up, mix them with goat cheese, stuff them in some chicken, and grill...that's what!

 

1 large pepperoncini, diced

4 oz goat cheese (I used herb and garlic flavored)

2 chicken breasts

 

Slit the chicken breasts down the middle and open up so it looks like a...you know. I'm not going to say it...but you know. Plop half of the mixture of goat cheese and pepperoncini in each of them, and throw them on the warmed up grill! You obviously can't flip these, so you have to cook low and slow to prevent burning, but there's not much work involved besides checking on it every few minutes.

 

I don't even know what else to say...and I'm never at a loss for words. This stuff was great, Main Man asked what was in it and I didn't even want to tell him how easy they were, it's slightly embarrassing. I served them with some twice baked cauliflower and the last batch of sweet corn on the cob for the year (most likely). It was just what I was craving, and literally took 5 minutes to put together. Can't beat that with a stick. Enjoy your hump day, everyone!

 

Bangin' Grilled Shrimp Skewers

Sit down. Take off your socks. Because the knowledge I am about to impart upon you is going to knock you off your feet AND knock your socks off. It happened to me when I put my first little bangin' shrimpy in my mouth. True story. Mama told these shrimpies to knock you out. Mama said knock you out.

P.S. They're not bad for you. I knowwwwwww! Where have these been all my life?? I found them hiding over at Gina's Skinny Taste, you know, my fave WW blog evah evah. I've told you about her before. The spinach and cheese lasagna rolls came from her. Yeah, she's pretty much a god. Plus, check out her food photos...but not before lunch unless you enjoy torture. I've had these shrimp skewers in my pile to try for longer than I care to admit now that I know how easy they are. What, you don't have a pile 2 foot high of printed recipes you want to try in the corner of your kitchen? Me either. I was kidding. Don't leave me...

It just so happened the stars aligned and I had everything I need to make these ready to go and on hand. We haven't made dinner this fast in....well, ever. Main man manned the grill after I skewered the shrimpies, while I made the sauce lickety split. Sauce them up after you take them off the grill and whammo-blammo-cadabra (or whatever it is magicians say)...dinna is served, my lords. You're welcome. I finally stopped curtsying earlier this week.

Ingredients:

2 T light mayo (I used olive oil based)
2 T scallions, chopped fine (I didn't have any so skipped this part)
2 T Thai sweet chili sauce
1 t Sriracha (or to taste, I used more like 1 T)

40 large raw shrimp, shelled and deveined, sprinkled with fresh cracked pepper

Directions:

Combine the first group of ingredients. Set aside. Soak wooden skewers in water so they don't burn on the grill. Heat a clean, lightly oiled grill to medium heat, when the grill is hot add the shrimp, careful not to burn the skewers. Grill on both sides for about 6-8 total cooking time, or until shrimp is pink and opaque. Set shrimp on a platter and quickly brush with sauce. Serve immediately, it gets cold quickly.

We made Main Man's favorite side lately...the baked parmesan tomatoes...to round out the meal.

 

Best part? The fat stats.

 

Bangin' Grilled Shrimp SkewersSkinnytaste.com

Servings: 2 • Serving Size: 2 skewers(10 shrimp each skewer) • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 6 pts
Calories: 280 • Fat: 9.5 g • Protein: 37 g • Carb: 8.4 g • Fiber: 0.1 g • Sugar: 5 g
Sodium: 330.9 mg

Hot onion burgers

Piggyback time!!!! Who doesn't love a good piggyback ride...we used to have races in our neighborhood, and even though I was a girl, I was super good at being on the bottom and running my little legs off to win. I'm tough like that. It's because I eat beeeeeef :) 

 

This carving board style roast beef was only half gone after making the scrumdiddlyumptious (piggy backs and Willy Wonka words...it's turning into a great hump day) philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers I made that week so I was really just trying to find ways to use it up when these burgers were born of love. I was pre-making burgers for the lake that weekend and thought "hmmmm...meat within the meat? I'm sure Main Man will luuuurve me for this one!" So I did the damn thang. And he did love me. Everyone loves a happy ending :)

 

1 lb lean hamburger

1 onion soup packet

1 diced jalapeno

1 can mushrooms

half package carving board roast beef 

 

Mix it all up. I realize it's pretty messy, but your hands are your best tool in this situation. It's sort of fun too...squishing it all between your fingers and watching it goo out as it all mixes together. Patty that out into 4 burgers (1/4 each) and layer with waxed paper in a container to store. Unless grilling immediately...by all means, grill away!!

 

I did not get a photo of these babies after they were cooked that weekend. I actually didn't even have one. Main Man had one with pepperjack cheese and raved about it though...the kid loves onions. His buddy Jones also thought they were extra special and told me 3 times how good they were. Aunt Vicki and Uncle Mike gobbled theirs up so I'm assuming they enjoyed them too! All in all, the lesson here is, you can't go wrong with meat inside meat. Class dismissed.

 

Smoked ribs

If you don't have a smoker, I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems but my ribs ain't one! A little Jay-Z always starts a Friday off right, huh!?  Anyway...I'm betting Jay-Z doesn't know how to make ribs like this (and even if he does, how cool would it be to have a rib-off with the Hova...let me know when if you happen upon this post, Jay)!

These were one of the big family (10+ friends) dinners we had at the lake over the 4th of July, and I'll be completely honest with you, it's the one I was looking the most forward to that week. Oh, and although he didn't know what was coming, it was Sam's favorite meal too...holy dog bones, Batman!!

I got 3 big racks or pork ribs at HyVee, and we had enough left over afterwards for about 3 people's meals the next day. We rubbed them with olive oil, Lawry's, and garlic salt before placing them on the smoker at 240 degrees for about 6 hours.  We went for an internal temperature of 165 degrees with a meat thermometer but knowing when your ribs are done is a lot harder than one might think. Check out this website for tips and tricks on testing your done-ness. 

After they smoked their little hearts out all afternoon, we sent them to the grill and slathered their skins with some Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce to char some of the outer bark and seal the smoky flava flav inside.  Let them rest for 5 minutes when you take them off the grill, just like any other meat. I never seem to get any pictures of ribs on the plate after they're done...it's like I just can't wait to get them in my mouth, my mind loses all focus and just starts chewing. They do look pretty snazzy on the grill though!

I'm not really going to just sit here and brag about these smoked ribs without helping you out a little if you don't have a smoker...don't worry. If you don't own a smoker, go ahead and give Aunt Lisa's ribs a try...they're my go-to family recipe so you know they're on the favorites list! Now, I release you on this Friday to go forth and get yoself some ribbage!  Enjoy your weekend, all!

Pork chop marinade

Ready, set, MARINATE! As you know, marinades are my fave way to infuse my meat with flava without a whole lotta work involved besides the throwing it on the grill part. This one did not disappoint....a little sweet, a little bite, a lot of love. I usually just stick with my standard chipotle pork chops marinade but have been venturing out lately so I thought I would give this one a shot. I used to shy away from anything with honey in it but I've grown to love the subtle sweetness it lends without going overboard. This is going to be made again, you can bet on that!
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 T vegetable oil (I always substitute olive oil in recipes)
2 T green onion
1 t curry powder (I'm not big on curry so I left this out)

Mix all ingredients together and marinate 4-6 pork chops overnight. I halved the recipe and only did 2 pork chops. Grill and enjoy :)

Please excuse the short, simple post as it is Monday and I am working on getting my brain right after a phenomenally relaxing weekend....I'll work on being more witty tomorrow :) In the meantime, just go ahead and drool over those charred grill marks there...mmmmmm!!

Shrimp on the grill

Buttah. Lemon. Lawry's. Shrimp.

I only need those four words to complete this post. I didn't measure, and I didn't time it on the grill...just soaked up the sun on Father's day while keeping an eye on these babies, and BOOM! These bomb little shrimpies were born...

Just slice 2 lemons and lay them in the bottom of the greased pan. Put 2 lbs uncooked (the grey ones) shrimp on top of them and sprinkle with Lawry's at your heart's desire. Top with a few spoonfulls of butter to melt on top and that's all she wrote! Throw it on the grill and watch the magic happen...

These don't take long at all, as you know if you've ever cooked shrimp before. I was constantly stirring (and tasting) but they were done in less than 10 minutes. Big Dan's love for shrimp scampe was the motivation behind all this, but I wanted to make it as easy as possible with having to haul all the ingredients for our Father's day feast to the lake...and I do believe this was as easy as humanly possible.

Nice hint of citrus, with some buttery saltiness...oh yeah, these were goooood :)

Key West Chicken

You know me...always on the lookout for a new marinade! Chicken always needs a little something to give it some depth, and this marinade had a nice sweet/salty/citrus-y thing going on that made it the perfect light flavor when charred on the grill. If you're sick of your plain old marinated in italian dressing chicken, this marinade is for you...

3 T soy sauce
2 T honey
1 T vegetable oil (I used olive oil as it's more heart healthy)
juice of 1 lime
1 t minced garlic
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

In a small bowl, combine the marinade ingredients and then pour over chicken in a container to sit overnight. For a slightly zestier option, add 2 T of fresh cilantro chopped up like I did.

Grill as you would a normal chicken breast and prepare to have your mind blown. This would also be a great marinade for shrimp, if you ask me....

Cilantro lime flank steak

I bet you were wondering where your flank steak recipe for the week was??  Never fear, I would never leave you beef-less for the week. This one was a little different, as you are supposed to liquify the marinade, so I thought I would give it a shot.

1 cup fresh cilantro

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1.5 t olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

1 serrano chile (you can seed the chile if you want to avoid any heat)

1 t sea salt

1 lb flank steak

Put all your ingredients besides the steak into a food processor and make a smooth, saucy marinade for your meat. Process it all and pour it on top of the thawed flank steak to soak up the love overnight before grilling. Remember what we've talked about with grilling the flank steak when we did the flank steak with chimichurri sauce and the carne asada tacos and don't overcook it. Flank steak gets very tough when cooked over a MR, so about 5-7 minutes each side on the grill should be plenty.

I didn't get a pic of this one before I devoured it...does that say something? Although a little more work than the normal marinades because you have to use the food processor, I really enjoyed the flavor profile with this one. Never fear, I will continue to try the world's flank steak marinades one at a time to bring you the best of the best each week. I do believe my favorite so far is probably the cuban flank steak or Butch's carne asada marinade, but I haven't had a bad one yet, if you were wondering....

Balsamic herb chicken kabobs

I know I've told you this before, but I never listen on the first time, so why would you? These Lawry's marinades are sent-from-the-heavens-amazing and it's my sole mission in life to try every single one that they make. My favorite is the Steak and Chop flavor that I talked about HERE, but I'm also a big fan of the Chipotle one I talked about HERE. The balsamic herb was a new one for us, but I thought it would be perfect for chicken...and I'm not wrong very often :)

I just skewered some chicken breasts, whatever veggies I could find in the fridge (cherry tomatoes, onion, green pepper this go around), and a couple red potatoes sliced very thin....and then threw them all in a dish to pour the loveliness that is Lawry's all over my sticks to marinate overnight.

Do notice that from my previous grilling experiences with kebabs, I have started to separate veggies from taters from meat. They all cook at different lengths of time so I would end up with crispy veggies, dry meat, and not done taters....nobody likes that. So I've begun splitting them so the taters can be on longer and the rest on shorter periods of time so that everything is done perfectly at the same time. It's the little things that make me happy :)

"I always forget how fun kebabs are...shove a stick in and it makes dinner sweeter than shit!" A little knowledge bomb from the Main Man there...words to the wise.  Next time you're bored with your normal grilling routine, just shove a stick in and all is right with the world. Oh, and use the Lawry's marinades!!  Carry on with your Friday :)

Flank steak with chimichurri sauce

This recipe was from Kalyn's Kitchen, and I have tried and loved everything I've ever made from this blog. Do yourself a favor and give her a read next time you're looking for something phenom for dinner....

This was our Mother's day meal at the lake, well, it was Justin and I's, we had ribeyes and filets and chicken brats for the others ...perfect weather for a nice grillout after getting some work done and then heading on a boat ride to cap the day off. I think Mama Stensland had fun, I know if I was a mom, you couldn't really beat a day like that for me! Wishing Mama K could've joined us, but she is in the throes of a study sesh the next few weeks so I wasn't allowed to distract her...we will celebrate Mom day another weekend with her soon :)

I had the steak marinating for a day before grilling, and made the sauce early to just bring along and throw on as well. I have never done a chimichurri sauce, but am trying to expand my horizens with sauces and such so I gave it a go. I think I was actually the only person who used it, we had so much food going on that I don't know if anyone knew what it was. Chimichurri sauce is a South American condiment for beef based on fresh spices, so it really seemed like a no brainer that I would enjoy it. It had a very fresh taste to it...a lot of cilantro flava too if you like that sorta thing!

1 piece Flat Iron Steak, 1 1/2 - 2 pounds

1 T Steak Rub (the recipe called for Montreal steak seasoning but I used my boot camp instructor's steak marinade called Sarinade...you can use your favorite steak marniade instead)

Chimichurri Sauce Ingredients:

1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves (about 1 cup before chopping)
1/2 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley leaves (about 1 cup before chopping)
2 T minced garlic
3 T fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 cup olive oil

Grill the flank steak just like we have in the past few recipes....you don't want to overdo it or it becomes tough. About 5-7 minutes on each side usually does it for me, and then give it 5 more minutes to rest a bit...you should be good to go!

Spoon the sauce onto the steak and the yumminess spread all over your plate...you will want to lick it clean with your potatoes when the meat is gone!  I would say this amount of sauce will feed 6 people with steaks...

Oh, and just a little piece of advice from me to you...I will now be refraining from cutting/eating steak with plastic utensils. It was a little concerning to lose a tine off my fork, and never find it in the process of the meal. I'm pretty sure the steak was so good, I must've inhaled it and not noticed...yikes!!!

Carne asada tacos

Here's your flank steak recipe for the week (you know I have to post at least one per week)!  This is another Butch recipe, I posted his chicken marinade yesterday, and I will be posting his pico de gallo tomorrow....so we may as well just call this the Week of Butch! If you look below, you may notice that this post made the favorites tab...Main Man and I were simultaneously chipmunk talking to each other with our cheeks full about how good this was the whole time we were eating. I would venture to say it's my favorite Mexican dish made at home yet! 

4 garlic cloves minced
1 jalapeno minced (original recipe calls for 2 but I didn't want to kill my main man)
handfull chopped cilantro
juice of 2 limes
juice of 1 orange
2 T white vinegar (I had to use apple cider vinegar since I was out of white)
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix it up...

Pour it on...

Grill it up...

Load them up....and you're in business!

Yes, there is a bite out of one of the tacos...I literally couldn't wait. Sorry, folks :)

I marinated the meat overnight so it was ready to throw on the grill right when I got home from hyperventilating and sweating profusely working out so I didn't have to wait long for dinner. Remember when you're grilling flank steak to cook it Medium Rare or it gets really tough. This should mean about 5-7 minutes on each side on the grill. Also be sure to let it rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing so you don't lose all your lovely juices! The meat is by far the big star of this taco show, I didn't even use lettuce, tomatoes, or sour cream.

I just warmed the tortillas up in the microwave for 20 seconds (heavenly little piece of advice, I would recommend you follow it), layered some slices of the carne asada with a mix of authentic Mexican cheese (the blend I got was queso quesadilla, asadero, and manchengo), and threw some pico de gallo on top (I will be sharing that recipe tomorrow, so you can start sending thank you notes now....it's sooooooo good).

If you find a better carne asada taco recipe than this, I will drive to your house to get it from you because this was right in our wheelhouse of favorite flavors...thanks again, Butch! You really made Main Man happy last week :)

Grilled chicken cordon bleu

It's funny the things you can learn on Facebook. I've known Butch for more years than I want to admit, from bartending in downtown Ames during my college years. In allllll those times we hung out, I never once knew he was a master in the kitchen! Since starting this blog, I've also learned about a few people from high school that have gone to culinary school...talk about my dream! Anyway, Butch likes to share pics of his food and post about what he's making for dinner just like I do...so I find myself jealous of all his meals and begging for the recipes...lucky me that he's nice enough to share them with me, and lucky for you he is letting me share them with you as well :)

I've been wanting to try his chicken marinade for quite a while. As you know, I'm really into marinating meat to throw on the grill each night lately....if you couldn't tell from the rosemary ranch chicken, the balsamic garlic pork tenderloin, and the cuban flank steak.  Butch said he came up with the perfect marinade for chicken, so of course, I was intrigued!

Butch's Chicken Marinade:
1/2 cup zesty italian dressing (I used fat free)
1/4 cup mayo (I used fat free)
1 T spicy mustard
1 T honey
4 chicken breasts
Put the chicken in a shallow container laying flat, and mix all the ingredients in a separate bowl before pouring on top of chicken. Let the chicken sleep in the marinade overnight, and have lovely dreams of hopping on the grill for dinner the next day...

Chicken breast doesn't take long on the grill so after about 5 minutes on each side, I put some fresh shaved ham on top of it. Then add a half slice of fat free swiss cheese to the top and shut the lid of the gril so the yumminess can melt together in peace. They should look like this when removed from the grill (look at those grill marks), and they should taste like this (oh how I wish I could give out taste tests over the internet)...

There is a hint of sweet, a hint of zestiness, and a whole lotta flava in these babies, AND they kept their moisture very well which is a big deal with chicken breast on the grill! This is super simple and is a little different so if you have food ADD like I do, this is def for you...stay tuned for some more Butch posts this week :)

Caribbean grilled flank steak

Yep...flank steak again. I'm sure that's what you're saying in your head.  That's not what my main man was saying though, and it's not what was going through my head...I've been waiting all week to do our flank steak meal! I have now been given a couple more recipes to try that will be coming up, and I wish I had better patience. I always want to eat the same meal over again when I finish with any of these flank steak meals, like the recently posted balsamic grilled flanks steak or the cuban grilled flank steak salad.

I did have a disappointing experience with it lately though...I ordered it at a restaurant.  It was thinly sliced, not seasoned enough, and way overdone...seemed more like roast beef strips. Did I say I was disappointed? Because I was disappointed. Sadface.

Anyway, I've come to the conclusion that I just won't order it in restaurants anymore since I can make it so much better at home (which seems to be the case with all steaks, tacos, and most pastas).  So now that we've decided that...here's the next flank steak recipe for you to try!

2 t minced garlic
1 t ground cumin
1 t minced onions
1 t oregano leaves
1 t crushed red pepper
1 t salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lime juice
1 lb flank steak

Mix all ingredients up into a marinade, and pour over the flank steak to soak overnight. It will soak up all of the liquid so don't be worried about that. Fun fact: I heard on Chopped the other night that citrus juices break down tough meats so marinating with those will actually give you more tender cuts of steak. Just a little fyi...knowledge is power :)

When you're ready to grill, follow the same directions that we've talked about before. Don't overcook it! Flank steak needs to be MR or under in order to keep from being tough...trust me, and trust the restaurant who served the roast beef slices to me and called them flank steak.

Grill 4-5 minutes per side for a rare to medium rare cut of meat. Let the meat rest 4-5 minutes before slicing so you don't lose all the yumtastical juiciness....and that's it. You just hit another dinner homerun...circle the bases and have a seat on the couch. You deserve it.

The sides are just some steamed asparagus with salt, cracked pepper, and low fat parmesan cheese.....and then the balsamic parmesan portabellos with green beans.