As you all may know, I’ve been participating in the Bon Appetit Food Lover’s Cleanse. The refined-sugar-and flour-free eating plan has resulted in several dreams involving fudge and bread but so far I’ve managed to make it through without a single cheat. Of course, it’s fairly easy to stick to a cleanse that involves (at least a little) red meat.
Yes, this beautiful steak dinner was still part of the 2014 FLC and it was so satisfying it nearly made me forget about wanting a beer. Nearly.
The recipe was Hanger steak with Orange Oregano Chimichurri but I made a few substitutions. The first issue was that I hadn’t bought hanger steaks from work and trying to find them at the nearest grocery store was totally unsuccessful. I turned instead to another steak known for its leanness, the striploin. In the chimichurri, I used some home-dried thyme instead of dried oregano because that’s what I had on hand. I also added a bit of mint because I live on the edge.
To accompany the steak I served some simple roasted carrots and a salad of mixed greens, roasted beets and a teeny tiny bit of chevre. I figured since the FLC allows for a bit of cheese every few days this would be the day to do it. Beets love cheese — goat cheese, blue cheese, feta. They aren’t too fickle. And the garlic-herb chevre that I bought brought extra flavor to the salad.
The chimichurri was fantastic — definitely the key to making the steak more exciting. It’s herby, citrusy from both the orange juice and the orange zest and packs a garlicky punch. So many good things all at once. (By the way, the mint was great added in and I’d totally recommend it.) The chimichurri would be equally delicious on chicken but it was outstanding mixed into a bowl of quinoa and roasted veggies the next day.
Once the chimichurri is made, the meal is pretty much ready to go. Season and sear the steak, rest and slice. Then get ready to sauce it up:
And enjoy!
Go girl! If that’s a cleanse, sign me up! (Assuming you could drink a big fruity syrah with that…) That Magnolia hanger steak was off the hook, BTW. WANT MORE!
Right? This was exactly what I needed after a few days of quinoa! And so glad you liked the Magnolia. Whenever you need another order of meaty goodness let me know! We just did another kill 12/20 and have another one lined up for February.
That actually looks really delicious!
It was super delicious!
Love the orange and mint additions…I think you need to rename this and make it your own! Fabulous…I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks! Please do give it a try. It’s a nice bright dinner for these dreary winter days. =)
Oh, I’m definitely going to try it – I love the bright flavors of chimichurri, so this sounds divine!
oh yum! And it wouldn’t leave you hungry so you don’t need the fudge and bread. 😀 We can talk later about how to make fudgy bread or bready fudge (that second one doesn’t sound so great). For now, carry on oh soldier of the FLC.
But I still want the fudge!! So badly! Thankfully I made the chocolate coconut bark that they recommend as part of the cleanse and it did take a bit of the edge off. Only 4 days to go! =)
What amazing colours in that photo! It looks totally delicious 😀
It was so delicious! And the brightness of the herbs was especially nice on a cold winter evening. Always a good thing! =)