Double Duty: Flank Steak

Last Saturday we had a classic steak and baked potato supper. Since we made the trip to the "big city" 30 minutes down the road, we made sure to pick up a flank steak. (We can't find this in any grocery stores in our town-my husband went to the butcher shop and the butcher said it's not a very popular cut of meat.)

At any rate, armed with our steak and a beautiful day to grill outside, I used a marinade from Rachael Ray. The meat only needs to hang out for about 20-30 minutes before it's ready to grill. I usually grill a flank steak for 6 minutes on each side over medium heat-- comes out perfectly medium every time.

Flank Steak Marinade (from Rachael Ray)
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of grill seasoning
1 teaspoon of cumin
2 teaspoons of hot sauce
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons of red win vinegar
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• Combine the ingredients in a plastic bag and add your steak.
  
• Seal the bag and make sure the steak gets coated in the marinade.

Since the two of us only finished half of the meat, I had leftovers to contemplate. Since we hadn't eaten Asian food in a while, I decided to use the beef in a steak and broccoli stir-fry. This was super simple and tasty, but in no way authentic Asian cuisine.

Steak & Broccoli Stir-Fry (this made about 3 servings)
1/2 lb. cooked flanked steak, sliced thin
1 onion
1 head of broccoli with the florets cut up
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon of minced or grated ginger

Stir-fry Sauce
1/4 cup of low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup of hoisin sauce
Couple of teaspoons of hot sauce OR garlic chili paste OR spicy sweet Thai chili sauce

I sauteed a sliced onion in canola oil over medium-high heat until the onions became tender. Then added a couple of teaspoons of minced garlic, a tablespoon of grated ginger, and the broccoli. Seas on with a little bit of salt and pepper. After the broccoli is tender but still has a bite to it, add in the slices of steak.

In the meantime, make the sauce. For the sauce, combine the hoisin, soy sauce, and hot sauce in a separate bowl. When the meat has heated through, pour the sauce over the stir-fry and toss to combine.

This dish was another Rachael Ray adaptation (see the recipe for the Hoisin noodle bowls).

I usually serve stir-fry with brown rice or noodles. Usually I use whole wheat spaghetti, but this time I had some linguine in the pantry. If you choose to use noodles, put the cooked noodles into the stir-fry pan, then add the sauce to the veggies/meat/pasta and toss to combine so the noodles soak up the sauce.

This stir-fry sauce works with any combination of meats and veggies. One of my favorite variations of this stir-fry is onions, mushrooms, broccoli, and scrambled egg. Yummy!