Flank Steak with Olive & Tomato Salad

This post is a collaboration with Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. on behalf of the Beef Checkoff. I received compensation. All opinions are my own.

I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on television. These ideas are all my own. I do, however, have a pretty great story to share about balance in eating, along with some new information about the Mediterranean diet that is sure to make us lovers of red meat happy. Traditionally, the Mediterranean diet promotes a healthy consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, with a splash of olive oil and red wine here and there, maybe the occasional fish, and little to no red meat. A new study done by Purdue University, however, adds to a growing body of evidence that the addition of lean red meats to the diet can actually improve heart health, blood pressure, and lower cholesterol. Click here https://www.beefitswhatsfordinner.com/newsroom/mediterranean-diet to read more on the study.   

I’m an excellent cook, and I love to learn technique and simple ways of eating. I’m pretty well versed in fad diets, not because I participate but because I’m fascinated by the way people choose to eat. I’m interested in the science behind dieting and why it’s trendy to snack on bacon while an Oreo is labeled as the devil. I’m always researching the why behind it – why full fat, why low fat, why vegan? Why low sugar, why low carb? I am a firm believer in balance. What many of us have forgotten is that food is fuel.  

So here’s the story: I’m not sure if many of you know, but I was pretty sick with my last pregnancy. I had gestational diabetes pretty severely. I was enjoying up to six shots of insulin daily just to properly digest a meal towards the end. I was very miserable. Most foods made me very sick. I could not eat starch or almost anything with a carbohydrate. My vision was blurry, I was exhausted all the time, and it honestly made me blue for the majority of my pregnancy. When I first found out I had gestational diabetes they asked me to visit a nutritionist. I was like, Ha! Me? See a dietician? Sure, I’ll humor you good doctors, but I of all people don’t need to learn how to cook or eat from a nutritionist! Sorry to all my sweet friends who work in this profession...

When I arrived for my appointment, the woman had all kinds of empty boxes and packages for me to look at. Eat this, don’t eat this, etc.,etc. She gave me color-coded charts and asked me to chart my meals. She warned against the low carb diets and talked about moderation. When having steak and mashed potatoes, just have a small scoop of potatoes and more broccoli than the lean steak and potatoes combined. I left the appointment feeling like it was a bust. Still, I took her advice and began to chart my meals and eat how she suggested…and something wonderful started to happen. My sugars began to stabilize. I didn’t cut out carbs completely, and I ate smaller portions. I started listening to my body. Having diabetes saved my life. She was right!

I learned how to eat. I learned how to listen to my body and put the fuel I needed into it to feel good. One diet I believe focuses on true balance and seems to fit the way I choose to eat now is the Mediterranean diet. Loads of lean protein, fresh veggies, whole grains, and olive oil. Good fat, low sugar, and heart healthy grains. I truly believe that moderation and good food leads to a happy, full life. When I’m doubting anything, I think about how they’d eat 75 years ago? During this time I was able to lose 30 lbs. last year just by eating whole foods. I never cut out grains or snacked on bacon. I still enjoyed fresh, wholesome foods and what I learned last year I applied to my life as a way of life rather than a diet.

I go out to eat and make better choices. I’m never going to be the person at the table screeching about their chosen diet and what they can’t eat and why (who wants to be that person?). I’m just going to be “team balance” forever. I don’t feel guilty after eating, but I know my limits and that food is fuel. I can choose the fuel that helps my body feel its best. This meal I prepared using the Mediterranean diet principles is what my plate looks like 80% of the time these days. Some nights, I add whole grains and or pasta and I feel great. I’m a size healthy. My diabetes is gone and I love that. I eat lots of protein and grains and veggies. I hope you are able to try this meal and feel incredible about your choices. “Team lean beef” all the way!

Flank Steak
with Olive & Tomato Salad 

1 1/2 pounds Flank Steak
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

for the olive salad:

4 cups baby lettuces
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1/2 cup pitted Sicilian green olives
1/2 cup fresh chopped basil
1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup red cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup yellow cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 juicy lemon
Pinch of red pepper flakes

 This recipe is excellent for the grill or the stove top. Grill, covered, 11 to 16 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, 16 to 21 minutes) for medium rare (145°F) to medium (160°F) doneness, turning occasionally. Set steak aside to make the salad.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the salad. Gently mix together and spoon over fresh baby greens.

Slice the rested steak against the grain (those lines that run one way along the cut of the meat). Lay the steak on top of the olive salad and spoon some of the juices from the bowl over the steak. Enjoy!

Cassis, and the Tale of the $10.95 Pants

In my dating days, my early twenties, I was a proud member of Match.com. I prided myself on how many dates I could go on. My girlfriends and I decided we’d go on every date for at least a month for the stories alone. I mean, they were pure gold!

One guy dressed in a wool three-piece suit when it was 95 degrees outside, and while sweating profusely asked how many children we’d like to have. Before I could even order an appetizer! Kids? Um, how ‘bout we start with egg rolls. Another guy told me he was 33, which was a stretch for my 23 year-old self, and he showed up and was like, “Welp, as you can tell I’m not 33. I’m 38...” Try 58, buddy. NEXT! This dude was in his mid-fifties. And so on and so on.

I’d laugh with my girlfriends, laugh about the adventure, and say yes to the next date. By the end I’d met a guy who was nice. No sparks but nice. He was awkward and kind and an attorney. Extra mom points for guys with great a great jobs, am I right? But this guy was a dud for me. No charisma and zero fun. He’d shoosh me if I laughed too loud at dinner and cut me off to talk about himself. I can remember prank calling him with my girlfriends and just laughing and laughing with our fake Russian accents, asking him if he’d checked in for his flight. Harmless fun, but he didn’t laugh, he was annoyed.

Since I was little my mom has asked if I’d like the $10.95 pants now or if I’d like to wait and save for the designer, well-made, incredible pants. This has been a metaphor I’ve since lived by for the last 20 years. In life and jobs and even my marriage. That nice attorney was the perfect example of what I wanted at the moment, but not the best thing for the long run. That guy was $10.95 pants (no offense to you, kind sir, wherever you may be).
 

We all love the store Target. Great clothes, generally cheap, but 3-4 washes and the love affair is over. For some reason I can buy a pair of $10 tights ten times a year but struggle to purchase a $60 pair that fits incredible and will last me two years. And there it is, my mom’s voice in my head asking if I wanted to buy pants for $10.95 for my whole life or if I’d like to wait and save up for those $120 jeans that become like an old friend for years. I’d choose the latter now. I’d take those glorious jeans that cost a fortune because they’ll be better in the long run.

For the past 20 years, every so often when I want something to happen yesterday – a contract, a job, in my dating years a relationship, now to fix issues in my marriage, a big break, even a recipe to turn out while cutting 15 steps – I can hear my mom gently urging me to consider $10.95 pants or waiting on God’s best. You see, it’s tough to not want the crumbs now. The relationship, the quick fix, the all-fat diet to acquire that smoking body. But I want the long run, the better bet, the fight for the best. After the long haul and waiting out that dream to come to fruition I’ve never thought, well, sooner would have been better. The timing is always perfect even it was a slog to get there. Good often takes time but the best is absolutely a lengthy labor of love and hard work. It’s always worth those hours and weeks and years it takes to get to the glory. This is often how God works in our lives. He is absolutely a God of instant miracles in some cases, but often times he loves us enough teach us and point us to glory due us in the waiting.

A close friend asked me the other day if I get nervous with all the waiting. The nature of my job is 42 irons in the fire and waiting for certain ones to be just the right temperature. My mom happened to send me this devotional from Streams in the Dessert that morning. It was spot on:

Therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you . . . blessed are all they that wait for him. (Isaiah 30:18 KJV)
 

We should not only understand the importance of our waiting on God but also realize something even more wonderful – the Lord waits on us. And the very thought of His waiting on us will give us renewed motivation and inspiration to "wait for him." It will also provide inexpressible confidence that our waiting will never be in vain. Therefore, in the spirit of waiting on God, let us seek to discover exactly what it means right now.

The Lord has an inconceivably glorious purpose for each of His children. "If this is true," you ask, "why is it that He continues to wait longer and longer to offer His grace and to provide the help I seek, even after I have come and waited on Him?" He does so because He is a wise gardener who "waits for the land to yield its valuable crop" and is "patient . . . for the autumn and spring rains" (James 5:7). God knows He cannot gather the fruit until it is ripe, and He knows precisely when we are spiritually ready to receive blessings for our gain and His glory. And waiting in the sunshine of His love is what will ripen our soul for His blessings. Also, waiting under the clouds of trials is as important, for they will ultimately produce showers of blessings.

Rest assured that if God waits longer than we desire, it is simply to make the blessings doubly precious. Remember, He waited four thousand years, "but when the time had fully come, God sent his Son" (Gal 4:4). Our time is in His hands, and He will quickly avenge those He has chosen, swiftly coming to our support without ever delaying even one hour too long. - Andrew Murray

So, while researching cassis recipes I found dozens of methods. Some added wine and more sugar, curing in the dark. Some removed the stems and tails and mashed with no heat. Some recipes called for heating the mixture and allowing it to sit in the sun for up to four weeks, others preferred the temperature to be much cooler and recommended aging in the fridge only. There were several recipes that said to let it sit overnight and enjoy!

I wanted fast results, though; I had no time to wait. The other morning I was setting out to make the liqueur and I was determined to utilize the fastest method. When I started the mash and placed it in its jars I thought, this is so beautiful, quite expensive, and I would hate to miss out on something great because I chose to rush the process. I don’t want $10.95 pants – I’m worth designer jeans, folks. So, I opted to wait.

Now, as I write, I’m waiting for the perfect liqueur, bottled at the height of summer, perfectly preserved with time and patience and love. In a few weeks I’ll be enjoying a superior crème de cassis, impressing loved ones with unbelievably delicious cocktails, drizzling it over panna cotta, marveling at the wonderful agedness of it all. When that day comes in a few weeks I’ll write another post with a finished product and lovely champagne cocktail. Until then, let’s all find joy in the waiting.

Crème De Cassis 

4 pints red and black currants (about 5 cups) 
2 cups sugar
1 750 ml. bottle of vodka (we used Heritage Distilling) 


Method 

Mash the fruit, stems and all, with the sugar until it’s dissolved. Stir in the vodka and mix thoroughly. Pour the mash into jars fitted with lids and store in a cool, dark place for 2-3 weeks. 

After it’s rested for 2-3 weeks, strain through cheesecloth and bottle. The liqueur should last indefinitely. 

Classic Cherry Short Cake

It’s the height of summer. All the produce is stunning and the days are long and hot. It’s lazy in the best way possible. I don’t know if any of you know this, but I fell in love with my husband again over shortcakes. We had just closed our restaurant, and life was tough to say the least. I had so many butter pound cakes left, and I packed ‘em all up and froze them individually. That entire summer we had what felt like a never ending supply of cream and berries and pound cakes. We would sit on our bed and watch our baby Noah sleep and talk about life again. I’ll never forget that summer.

Now whenever I eat this treat I’m reminded of growth, new beginnings, and finding the joy in life. The expression “life is just a bowl full of cherries” never felt truer. It’s not without its pits, but the sweet fruit makes it all worth it. I hope you make this simple dessert that requires very little effort and enjoy the little things in life. I was able to find the most glorious rosy golden Rainer cherries, a super northwest treat, at my local QFC. The bakery section is just what you’ll need when it’s too hot to turn the oven on. Feel free to change it up and buy angel food cake! The sky is the limit.

National Rainier Cherry Day is July 11th! Enjoy!

Classic Cherry Short Cake

Serves 4

1 lb. Rainer cherries, halved and pitted
The juice and zest of a lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. kosher salt (just a pinch)

4 store-bought short cakes (I found these pretty sugar-coated short cakes in my local QFC bakery section)

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Whip the cream, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until soft peaks form. I prefer the cream on the softer side. Set cream aside in the fridge until it’s time to serve. In a serving bowl, slice and pit the cherries and mix them with the lemon, sugar, and salt. Leave them to macerate for about 30 minutes. The lemon prevents browning. To serve, split the short cakes and dollop whipped cream and fruit over top of the cakes. Spoon the juices over top of that and enjoy!