Molasses & Pepper Crusted Steak Tonight, Two Tasty Meal Solutions Tomorrow
Whoever decided that grilling ends with Labor Day either doesn’t live in Texas or finds some sort of strange pleasure in making meals more complicated than they need be. Us Texans are lucky and grill year ’round. In my book, grilling goes down as the easiest and most flavorful way to get dinner on the table fast – and, when you plan for “intentional leftovers,” breakfast and lunch can be covered for the next couple days! That means more time for homework helping, sports practice shuttling, washing gym clothes, baking cupcakes and all those other back-to-school duties.
So, I’m passing out a tasty assignment that requires a little bit of math if you care to multiply your grilling game into time-saving gains for my leftover meal suggestions. The Molasses & Pepper Crusted Steak recipe I’m sharing below makes four generous 6-ounce servings, double the marinade and meat to have enough steak remaining to prepare four salads and four breakfast bowls that each contains 3-ounces of beef. The beef cut I’ve used is the very tender and quite economical Flat Iron steak, but Top Sirloin, Tenderloin or Strip steaks would all work equally well.
The natural sugars from the molasses in this recipe caramelize along with the pepper to make a deliciously crispy crust on the outside of a mouthwatering and juicy center. Another benefit of molasses as a marinade is that it is a primo source of iron, as is beef. For that matter, every ingredient in the title of my Steak, Date & Pistachio Spinach Salad (made with steak leftovers) is rich in iron, a mineral that helps red blood cells get oxygen to the muscles, thusly improving energy, athletic performance and mental functioning. Goodness knows I could definitely use these boosts!
For dinner, dig into Molasses & Pepper Crusted Grilled Steaks alongside my recipe for Maple Pecan Raisin Butternut Squash Quinoa. Perfect for meal prepping, this simple side dish can be served cold or warm and is brimming with protein-rich quinoa along with squash, golden raisins, pecans, green onions and a little touch of real maple syrup.
As I hinted, you’ll want to save leftovers to make Steak, Date & Pistachio Spinach Salad. It’s not a “recipe” per se, just pile fresh baby spinach on a plate and add 3 ounces of leftover steak cut in bite-sized pieces. Top that with other veggies you love, like yellow pepper strips, and a couple tablespoons each of sliced dates, blue cheese and pistachios. I’ve served with my favorite store-purchased balsamic dressing. If you’re taking lunch to work or school, just pack it up in a Mason jar!
With the remaining leftover beef, I have a high-protein breakfast solution that will have your taste buds going bananas – a Paleo Plantain, Steak & Egg Breakfast Bowl! For each serving you’d like to make, pan sauté half of a chopped plantain and ¼ cup chopped yellow peppers with a small splash of coconut oil – it will take about 5 to 6 minutes. In the last 90 seconds or so of cooking, stir in 3-ounces of steak chunks to gently reheat without overcooking. Slide the steak mixture into a cereal sized bowl and quickly poach or fry a single egg to your preferred level of yolk “doneness.” Slide the cooked egg on top of beef mixture and season with salt, pepper and a drizzle of honey!
