Steak and Sweet Potato Salad

Today I'd like to take a brief moment to announce the receipt of recent accolades; the Hubs has officially earned the title of His Excellency, Master of Outdoor Cooking (his certificate is in the mail).  This is a Highly Coveted Award that's given out at random and without much forethought only to the Truly Deserving.  In honor of this prestigious award (which sadly does not come with a monetary prize or a trip to Disney) we decided to do some  grilling.  The Hubs, still basking in the glow of his award, out did himself; as you can see from the photo (which the Hubs took) those steaks were perfectly cooked.  (The vegetable salad was pretty good too, if I do say so myself).  But don't despair, should you not have received your grilling certificate yet, or if it's bad weather out, this recipe works just as well if you cook the steak in the oven.  

Steak and Sweet Potato Salad

2 6 oz. fillet steaks (I used sirloin fillets)
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes
2 cups fresh green beans
1/2 medium yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil

For the Dressing:
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp white balsamic vinegar
1 tsp whole grain mustard
1/2 tsp capers
3 good sized drops of honey
pinch of salt & black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Season the steak on both sides with salt and pepper and allow it to sit out to come to room temperature.  If you are cooking the steak on the grill, had it off to the grill operator and move on to the salad.  If you aren't using the grill, start with the sweet potatoes and when they have about 10 more minutes to go, take the steak out of the fridge, season it with salt and pepper, coat it lightly with olive oil, and let it come to room temperature.  (Letting meat reach room temperature means that it will cook more quickly and more evenly.)

When you are ready to cook the steak, turn the oven up to 500 degrees and get a large oven-proof skillet really hot over high heat and then drop the steaks into the pan.  Sear the steak on the first side for 30 seconds without moving it.  Flip the steak and sear the other side for another 30 seconds, then put the skillet directly into the oven.  Cook the steak for 2 minutes and flip it, cooking the second side for another 2 minutes.  Remove the steak from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes.  Cooking the steak 2 minutes per side will give you a medium-rare steak, for a steak that's medium, add a minute of cooking time to each side.

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into match sticks that are approximately 1/2 inch wide.  Put them onto a cookie sheet that is covered with tin foil and toss the sweet potatoes in a little salt and olive oil (just to keep them from sticking to the tin foil).  Bake the sweet potatoes in the oven for 30 - 40 minutes, turning them once after 15 minutes, until they are soft.

While the potatoes are baking, dice the onion and saute them in 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat until they've begun to soften, about 5 minutes.  As the onions cook, mince the garlic and cut the green beans into bite-sized pieces. After the onions have had 5 minutes, add the garlic for 30 seconds, stirring it around to combine and then add the green beans.  Saute the onions and green beans for 10 minutes, or until the green beans are tender (but still retain some of their crunch).

As the green beans and onions are cooking mix together the dressing by putting all of the ingredients into a small spill-proof jar and shaking to combine.  When the sweet potatoes and green beans are done, add the sweet potatoes to the pan with the beans and pour the dressing over the vegetables.  Allow the vegetables to cook for another minute or two to boil off the excess dressing.  Serve with the vegetables over the meat.  I had some Gorgonzola so I put a few small pieces of the cheese on top of the steak and under the vegetables.  Bon Appetit!

Serves 2

Beets & Chicken Over Polenta

Ah, beets.  I really do have a tumultous relationship with beets.  On the one hand I love beets and try to eat them as often as possible, especially when someone else has gone to the trouble of preparing them.  And there's the root of my dislike of beets, they just take too long to make they're almost not worth it (like eggs benedict, always better when someone else does the preparing).  I am just don't have the energy capacity to spend over an hour cookng the beets (not to mention the rest of dinner) when I get home from work (as I've lamented before).  It's not as though I haven't tried "time-saving techniques", all to no avail.  But last night, I stumbled upon it...cook the beets the night before you want to eat them!  It's brilliant.  There aren't any hungry people waiting on the beets, there is no issue with timing the beets to be done when the rest of the food is done, and all you have to do is heat them up.  Of course it does take a bit of forethought, but what's forethought compared to An Hour and A Half On A Week Night??

For this dinner (having had a hard workout at the gym and being unusually hungry) I was all about a quick meal.  So I started with the polenta, stirred it (for not quite as long as I should have...see above and the workout) and then let it sit unattended in the warm pan to finish. (Another stroke of genius born out of laziness efficiency).  The chicken I sliced into 2 inch wide pieces and tossed in seasoned flour before cooking it so that it had a little bit of a crust and some flavor.  I finished the polenta off with a little dolce gorgonzola that had only a fraction of the traditional "blue cheese-bite" but still gave a nice contrast to the sweetness of the beets.

Beets & Chicken Over Polenta

2 chicken breast halves
4 medium golden beets
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 3/4 cup water
1 tsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
6 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

For the beets: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Put the beets (skins and all) into a square glass pan that has about an inch and a half of water in it.  Cover the pan with tin foil and bake it in the oven for an hour to an hour and a half.  When the beets are soft when pierced with a fork let them cook enough to handle.  If you are eating them right away use a kitchen towel to rub off the skin and cut them into 1/2 inch match sticks.  If you are going to eat them the next day put the beets into a ziploc bag and put them (unpeeled) into the fridgerator.  Peel and cut the cold beets as discussed above.

For the polenta:  There are three keys to making polenta: (i) the water to corn meal ratio is 3:1; (ii) pour the polenta into the boiling water a little at a time, making sure it's incorporated before adding any more; and (iii) stir until your arm is ready to fall off (preferrably 15 - 20 minutes, but less stirring is ok if your arm is sore).  Also, make sure to salt the boiling water before adding the polenta and I like to finish my polenta with a small bit of butter. 


For the chicken:  Cut the chicken into 2 inch sections.  Mix the flour, salt, pepper and garam masala together in a bowl. (Don't worry even though it seems like a lot of salt.  Kosher salt is heavy and will fall to the bottom below the flour so you need extra.) Toss the chicken in the flour mixture to coat it well.  Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet and add the chicken to the pan once it's hot.  Cook the chicken until it's about 3/4 done and then add the beets (if they're cold from the fridge) to reheat them.

When the chicken is cooked and the beets are heated through serve the chicken and beets over the polenta with the gorgonzola sprinkled over the top (if you are going that route) and garnished with the basil.  Bon Appetit!


Serves 2