I arrived home from work just before 6 p.m. and spent several minutes fighting with my stupid garage door that has decided it only wants to work about every other time I hit the damn button. Stupid technology hates me.
After I finally got my tired ass in the house, I made this dinner:
- 1 1/2 lb. flat iron steak (the very best value in beef; lean and tender)
- Teaspoon of cumin
- Teaspoon of garlic powder
- Teaspoon of McCormick Mesquite blend (combo of chili powder, red pepper flakes, paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, and all kinds of wonderful stuff in a single jar)
- One really juicy lime
- 1 cup of microwave rice (shut up haters; it’s a weekday and I worked a 10 hours so I take shortcuts)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- A heaping helping of my homemade salsa
Squeeze the lime juice into a dish, add the steak
Get a grill pan (or a cast iron skillet or whatever you have, but grill pans give you those nice lines) searing hot with about a tablespoon or so of roasted garlic grapeseed oil (olive or canola oil is perfectly fine, I just love this grapeseed oil)
Flip the steak in the juice and sprinkle on half of the spices (BTW, I just guess on how much, looked like about a teaspoon of each, but season how you like it)
Add the rice and the chicken stock to a covered microwave dish (follow box instructions) put in the microwave and set it for five minutes
While the rice is in the nuke, put the seasoned side of the steak in the pan (you should hear a loud sizzle; that’s how you know the pan is hot)
Season the other side of the meat
Flip it in about three minutes or when you see the nice brown color on the pan side
When the rice is done, take it out of the microwave and let it rest
Finish cooking the steak (we like our beef medium rare; if you like it more well done, start it a few minutes before you start the rice and cook it until it’s to your liking)
Let the steak rest for about five minutes, cut on the bias
Serve with the rice and a heaping helping of homemade salsa (or your favorite jar of salsa, whatever, I don’t judge) over the steak and the rice
This dinner was started, cooked, consumed and cleaned up in about 35 minutes. Seriously easy, very tasty, plenty of leftovers for another meal or two (there’s just two of us.)
