Simple Steak Dinner: Less Complicated than It Tastes

 

This steak dinner recipe is one that we revisit frequently. It's quick and easy to prepare, so it's perfect for weeknights when we don't have time for some elaborate preparation. But it's bursting with delicious flavors to provide the ultimate satisfaction of a delicious home-cooked meal.

The Plan

It seems that we're still recovering from the Holidays and haven't quite gotten back into our groove yet. Unprepared in terms of groceries or recipe ideas, the Gchat conversation went something like this:

Bryan: What should we EAT

YiRan: Mmm...maybe seafood? Or chicken? Something healthy.

Bryan: Mmm...or STEAK. How about steak w/ that chimichurri sauce thang?

YiRan: Ok. Something healthy on the side though. Broccoli?

Bryan: Yech. You know how I feel about vegetables, but okay.

The Secret Sauce

We like to use skirt steak for this recipe because it's really flavorful, juicy and fairly cheap. It's one of the most under appreciated steaks out there, and we use it often to impress our friends without having to work too hard.

The other "secret sauce" is how we prepare the steak: the rub. Using a rub gives your steak a great amount of flavor but doesn't take nearly as much time to prepare as a marinade. It takes just a few minutes and will blow your taste buds away. Using a rub also helps to increase the juiciness of the steak. 

Making the Dish
What You'll Need
Skirt steak - as much as you like
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cumin - divided
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
4 tbsp olive oil - divided
1 bunch fresh parsley
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lemon

The Rub

1. Mix together 1 part salt, 1 part cumin, 1 part garlic powder, 1 part ground black pepper, and 1/₂ part cayenne pepper. 
2. Feel free to adjust this to your liking. For instance, tonight, I added some dried cilantro and coriander. Other times I've used paprika. It's up to you! 

The Steak

1. Take the steak out and prepare it about 30 minutes prior to cooking to let it get to room temperature. This will help it better.
2. Drizzle it all over with olive oil on both sides. Not too much, just enough to get it coated.
3. Shake the rub over the steak and rub it in on both sides. Let it sit for the rest of your 20 - 30 minutes. The rub will infuse itself in this steak and help it get nice and juicy.
   
   
   
   
4. Heat up your grill pan/grill/other method for grilling the steak and sear it on both sides, about 3 - 4 minutes per side.
   
   
5. Pop it in the oven at 350 to finish it off and bring it to your desired level of doneness. For medium, give it about 8 minutes.
   
   

The Broccoli

1. Chop up the broccoli into florets, and chop up a couple of garlic cloves - how many is up to how bad you want your breath to smell :)  
2. Drop both into a preheated saute pan with olive oil and let it get hot, starting to sizzle.
   
3. Stir it around and let it cook for a few minutes, and then season with salt and pepper.
4. Steam the broccoli for a few minutes by adding a little bit of water into the pan and putting on the top.
5. Let it get to your desired level of doneness, and then turn off the heat.

The Sauce

1. While this is all going on, it's time to prepare the sauce. 
2. Take 3 - 5 cloves or garlic and drop them in a blender. Add to that 1 tsp cumin, salt, and red pepper flakes, and half a teaspoon of ground black pepper. 
3. Rinse of a medium bunch of fresh parsley and drop it in as well. 
4. Lastly, squeeze one lemon's worth of lemon juice into the blender.
   
   
   
5. Blend. It. Up. 
6. Once you've gotten it all nice and blended, add about half a cup of olive oil into it and give it another quick blend. 
7. Give it a taste and season it to your liking. Sometimes more lemon is good, or more pepper, or more parsley (if you need to add more parsley, give it another blend again to smooth it out). 

Take out the steak, and put it on the plate. Let it sit for a few minutes to let the juices distribute around the steak. If you're not sure it's done, it's okay to cut it down the middle and take a look (you're going to cut it anyway!). Drizzle the sauce all over it and drop the broccoli on the side. Enjoy.

The Result

A flavorful, way more delicious than you'd expect for 30 minutes of work dish that may just become a staple in your weekly repertoire.

Give it a try and let us know what you think!

Herbie sure thought it smelled good...