Menu Planning & Eating Carne Asada

Grilled Steak ... and onions ... and avocado ... and salsa

People who have their lives together enough to plan the entire week's worth of meals impress me. I always imagine those people live in organized houses with clutter-free kitchens. Those people probably even have dogs that don't shed - or roll in dormant grass that gets stuck to their brown fur the day after, yes, the day after you just gave them a bath.

So in an attempt to be one of those people, I sat down this morning with a big cup of coffee and planned our dinners for the week. I'm happy to say I've got us eating a new meal almost every night this week. Who knows, maybe I'll even get around to cleaning up the pile of magazine pages I have sitting on the kitchen cart this week.

I Love Me Some Cowboys, I Mean, Cowboy Steak

I'm used to making dinner for the husband and having him tell me "it's good" or that he likes it. He isn't being rude. That's just how he is. So tonight when he took his first bite of steak and didn't utter any words but gave me an "mmmmm," I knew I did something very, very right.

We thought about grilling this Cowboy Flank Steak from Cooking Light because it was still in the mid-90s at our house today. But after Mother Nature threatened to storm and the thunder started rolling, I thought it'd be best to actually follow the recipe (for once!) and turn on the broiler - and man am I glad we did. This was one of the best steaks I think we've ever cooked ourselves. (And, no, I'm not just saying that because it's named for cowboys and if it were up to me, the husband would be one.)

Cowboy Flank Steak

From Cooking Light

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon coffee grinds

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (next time, the husband says, we should cut this in half)

1/2 teaspoon packed brown sugar

1 lb flank steak

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

cooking spray

Preheat the broiler.

Stir together the chili powder, coffee grinds, cumin and sugar. Rub both sides of the steak with the spices, and then sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper.

Spray a broiler pan with cooking spray (or, if you're like us, use a rack and baking sheet).

Broil the steak for 10-12 minutes or until it is done to your liking. 

Enjoy!