Pecan-Crusted Skirt Steak

Pecan Crusted Skirt Steak

It is finally election day. Having slogged through the most miserable, acrimonious election cycle in the history of the USA, I’d say we all deserve a reward. I wish I could offer something truly useful, like a magic wand we could wave to start the whole thing over with candidates we actually believe in. But in the absence of a magic wand, how about a big old-fashioned steak dinner?

This easy skirt steak is adorned with an irresistible honey-sweetened, buttery-crunchy pecan topping, and it comes with the added benefit of possibly putting us into a food coma and making us forget our electoral woes. Our family enjoyed it recently as part of a spontaneous dinner-for-lunch when we had steak to use up one Sunday afternoon. It was so unexpectedly fancy to have a steak meal for lunch–especially one this pretty–that I got out the good china and set the table with candles. It apparently made quite the impression on my five-year-old daughter, who is still talking about it weeks later. (Not sure if it was the table setting or the steak she remembers most, but for me, it is definitely the steak.) Even my husband, when he saw I was going to blog about this recipe, said, “Ohhhhh, yeah. That was SO good.”

So, my friends, let’s eat, drink, and be merry, for today we vote. May God bless this food to our bodies, and this nation whose future we are determining.

Pecan-Crusted Skirt Steak

Course: Beef, Main Dish
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lb. skirt steak, trimmed of excess fat
  • salt and pepper
  • 3/4 c. pecan pieces
  • 2 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces
  • 2 tsp. honey
  • 2 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Instructions

  • Heat broiler on high and position oven rack about 6 inches from broiler. Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray generously with baking spray.
  • Season the steak with about 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper
  • In a food processor, pulse the pecans, butter, honey, rosemary, salt, and pepper a few times until combined.
  • Broil the steak 3 minutes on each side. Spread pecan mixture on top and broil an additional 1-2 minutes, until pecans are lightly toasted.
  • Allow the steak to rest 5 minutes, then slice against the grain.

Notes

Adapted from Fine Cooking.

Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas

Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas

Before I knew how to cook–back in what I call my “Omelet/Sandwich/Ramen Period”–enchiladas were a food shrouded in mystery. I would order them every chance I got at restaurants, but I was convinced that between the filling, the sauce on top, and whatever magical Abuelita technique was used to roll the tortillas perfectly, enchiladas were WAY out of my league as a home cook. (Then again, so was making rice, so that’s not saying a lot.) It was quite a revelation, then, when I eventually realized that enchiladas are among the easiest, most forgiving foods in the Latin American catalog. Sure, they involve a multi-step process–making the filling, putting it in tortillas, and baking the whole thing–but the steps are really so simple that I’m not sure why I ever considered them intimidating.

Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas

These days, enchiladas are a staple in our household. For one, with as crazy as life with three school-aged kids, hobbies, church, friends, and a nutrition internship can get, I get dreamy-eyed at the thought of any meal that is relatively simple AND can be made ahead. And enchiladas happen to be a make-ahead superstar. Plus, they are so dang appealing, no matter what you put in them. You could put rat meat and human hair in enchiladas and I’d be like, “Fork, please.” I mean, warm, spicy filling in a soft tortilla is like if they made one of those body pillows into a food….

Enchilada Pillow

 

I demand someone make this in full-body length. Hashtag #FoodieChristmasPresent. (From FineArtAmerica.com. Hint, hint.)

At any rate, these edible body pillows roasted vegetable enchiladas might not have the classic Mexican filling you’d expect (chicken, beef, or cheese), but they DO represent the simple beauty of enchiladas mentioned earlier: namely, that you can fill them with just about anything and they come out tasting great. This particular iteration uses roasted broccoli, carrots, and red onion mixed with 3 cups of prepared mashed potatoes, making it perfect for an easy dinner post-Thanksgiving–or any other time you happen to have extra mashed potatoes on hand. Or even if you don’t (and don’t have the time to whip up a batch on the spot) there are some high quality frozen mashed potato options on the market I highly recommend, like Trader Joe’s.

So…what do you like to fill your enchiladas with? (Don’t say rat meat and human hair.) Let me know what you think of this hearty vegetarian version!

Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas

Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas
A Love Letter to Food Original Recipe

Ingredients:

4 carrots, sliced into 1/2-inch matchsticks
1 large head broccoli, chopped into florets
1 red onion, sliced medium-thin
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. taco seasoning (I like to make my own–it’s super simple!)
3 c. prepared mashed potatoes
6 flour tortillas
1 10-oz. can enchilada sauce
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss carrots, broccoli, and red onion with olive oil and taco seasoning and spread on a large baking sheet.
  2. Bake 30 minutes, stirring once about halfway through for even roasting.
  3. When vegetables are done, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
  4. In a large bowl, mix roasted vegetables and mashed potatoes.
  5. Pour a small amount of enchilada sauce into one 9 x 13 baking dish to evenly coat the bottom of the dish. Spread 1/6th of the vegetable mixture into each tortilla, roll and place seam-side down in the dish.
  6. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with cheese.
  7. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.

Makes 6 enchiladas.

Pork Chops with Pan-Fried Apples

Pork Chops with Pan-Fried Apples

Today is a red-letter day. After three weeks of being on the fritz, my oven is finally fixed! As a rather obsessive home baker, the last three weeks have been pretty painful (especially since my nutrition internship required me to provide baked goods for 40 kitchen employees last week). Mentally, I’ve been running through hypothetical would-you-rather scenarios involving my oven, like, “Would I rather have a working oven or a working microwave?” “Would I rather have a working oven or indoor plumbing?” (Speaking of which, did you ever read about the British study where people reported they’d rather give up indoor plumbing than Facebook?) I think I’d choose the oven over Facebook…but the plumbing over the oven.

At any rate, it’s been a challenge these last few weeks to get dinner on the table, considering the dead oven situation. The good news is that I’ve been making these Pork Chops with Pan-Fried Apples for years and knew it would serve as one hearty stovetop-only meal that’s perfect for fall.

Except for one little snag…

As written, this recipe is a Sodium B-O-M-B. Checking the nutrition info on realsimple.com revealed that the original recipe contains 2,045 milligrams of sodium per serving–right around the recommended amount for an entire day. Holy Saltshaker, that’s a lot of sodium! Time for a recipe makeover!

For my version, I’ve cut back the salt in the pork chops’ breading, limited the salt on the pan-fried apples to just a sprinkle, and used low-sodium chicken broth for the pan sauce. With these changes, this recipe is still a fairly high-sodium one (just so you’re aware) but is more in the reasonable range. This way you can enjoy your dinner without feeling like you overdid it and have to eat flavorless salt-free mush the entire rest of the day. Even with the sodium reduced, the flavors of the savory pork and caramelized exterior of the apples join for a classic fall combination that doesn’t need anything extra. I served it over mashed potatoes to complete the comfort food feel.

And now that that’s all squared away, I think I’ll go bake something!

Pork with Pan-Fried Apples

Pork Chops with Pan-Fried Apples
(Adapted from Real Simple)

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. canola oil
3 small to medium apples, sliced in half
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cumin
scant 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 lbs. thin-sliced boneless pork chops
1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
Fresh or dried parsley

Directions:

  1. Heat butter and canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle apple halves lightly with salt and pepper, to taste. Place cut-side down in the skillet and cook 3-5 until golden brown. Remove and set aside, covered.
  2. Meanwhile, mix flour, cumin, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. Dredge pork chops in flour mixture to coat on both sides. When apples have finished cooking, add more butter or oil to the pan if necessary and cook the pork 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown. Set aside, covered, with the apples.
  3. Add broth and vinegar to the skillet and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 4-5 minutes until slightly reduced. Pour over pork chops and top with parsley. Serve with apples.

Serves 4-5, depending on appetites.

Salmon Kale Caesar Wraps

Salmon Kale Caesar Wraps

If it seems like it’s been quite awhile since the last post here blog, there’s a reason for that. The hiatus wasn’t intentional. Apparently, someone on the other side of the world hacked my site, putting all kinds of trashy-trash links to their trashy-trash ads on my site, creating an entire day’s work for my husband (saintly technology pro that he is) to fix it.

Thanks, random person in Romania!

Honestly, it’s a lesson learned the hard way that I need to stay on top of my website updates (which guard against this sort of thing)–and a sad reminder that there are people who have no qualms about spewing their trashy-trash barfy-barf all over someone else’s content. Not that I’m bitter.

On a happier note, I’ve been waiting two whole weeks to share these Salmon Kale Caesar Wraps with you, and now I finally can! If you’re the kind of person who has issues with fish–“fissues”?–either because A) It’s too expensive, B) It’s hard to justify eating it for sustainability reasons, or C) It tastes too “fishy,” this recipe is for you. First of all, it takes only three-quarters of a pound of salmon and stretches it to make four servings, cutting the cost of fish per serving to about half of what it would be in a typical salmon dinner. And using less salmon perhaps allows for a splurge on more a sustainably farmed/caught (and therefore more expensive) fish. Also, because the salmon gets tossed with several other flavorful ingredients and wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla, it’s definitely not your usual fishy-fish entree.

surprised fish

 

I know, right? Mind. Blown. No more reasons to not eat fish. (Well, maybe you have your reasons. Maybe a fish robbed your grandmother…or hacked your website.)

Anyway, add to all this goodness that this recipe is mega-healthy and dead-easy to make in the space of half an hour, and you’ve got yourself a foolproof weeknight dinner or casual lunch.

Enjoy!

Salmon Kale Caesar Wraps

Salmon Kale Caesar Wraps
A Love Letter to Food Original Recipe

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. salmon
1/4 lemon
drizzle olive oil
salt and pepper
6 c. kale, chopped
1/3 c. purchased or homemade Caesar salad dressing
1/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
4 whole wheat tortillas

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a small baking dish with cooking spray. Place salmon in the dish and squeeze 1/4 lemon on top, followed by a drizzle of olive oil and some salt and pepper. Bake 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.
  2. Meanwhile, assemble the salad: in a medium bowl, toss kale with Caesar dressing and Parmesan.
  3. Add cooked salmon to the salad and toss to combine.
  4. Fill tortillas with completed salad, wrap, and serve.

Serves 4.

Beef Kofta Meatballs

Beef Kofta

Hey! Remember that post a few days ago about the Rice with Almonds and Golden Raisins inspired by our favorite local ’50s-diner-themed Middle Eastern restaurant? Well, as delightful as that recipe is, I wanted to share the veritable meat centerpiece that topped it off when we enjoyed it last week. (P.S. Please do not Google “meat centerpiece” like I just did. You will be sorry.) After all, even an inspired side dish needs a little something extra to make an actual meal, unless you’re working on your Biggest Loser extreme weight loss 900-calories-a-day life plan. And that little something extra might as well be as intriguing and delicious as the rice, something like, oh, maybe beef kofta meatballs?

Beef Kofta

Some people may say less is more, but the combination of eleven spices (commonly found in your pantry, don’t panic) in these meatballs provides a flavor package that makes me say MORE is sometimes actually more. In a one-and-a-half-inch diameter, these little morsels contain garlic, parsley, cilantro, onion, cumin, and even a hint of cinnamon. And 5 other spices, but I won’t try your patience listing them, too. See the recipe for a multi-spiced main dish that pairs perfectly with almond and golden raisin rice and will make you say واو (عِبارة للتعَجُّب)! (Arabic for “Wow!” Or I may have copied that wrong from the online Cambridge English-Arabic dictionary. That may actually say “Wow! Look at that car!” But, you know, you get the gist.)

Beef Kofta

Beef Kofta
(Adapted from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp. kosher salt
3 Tbsp. grated or finely diced onion
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, minced (or 1 Tbsp. ground coriander)
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. allspice
scant 1/4 tsp. ground red pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix all ingredients, using your hands if necessary to evenly distribute spices.
  3. Shape meat mixture into 1 1/2-inch meatballs and space evenly on a large baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 25 minutes. Serve any way you like: with rice, pita, tzatziki/garlic sauce, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.

Serves 4.