Steak Piperade

We've had such great luck with the Williams Sonoma What's for Dinner: 30-Minute Meals special recipe set! Really, these recipes are straightforward, unintimidating, and true to their quickness claims. Our next foray into the meal plan was Steak Piperade.

First, a flank steak is seasoned with salt and pepper, then browned over high heat with 1 tablespoon each of butter and olive oil. You have some freedom here in terms of doneness - the recipe instructs you to cook the steak for 4-6 minutes on each side. We found ourselves going a little over the time on each side, by about 2 minutes per side, to achieve the "medium-rare" doneness suggested by the recipe.

Just a side note: When preparing flank steak, we also like to make it medium on the ends and medium rare inside. Then we eat the outer edges for dinner and save the interior for lunch the next day, which, upon reheating, yields us a nice, medium-cooked steak lunch. So when we say our steak was "medium-rare", we're referring to the inside bits, and not the ends.

Once it's done, the steak can be moved to a cutting board and covered loosely with foil while the peppers are prepared. The remaining butter and oil are heated and used to sautee the red onion, garlic, and bell peppers along with the thyme. The wine and tomatoes are added, and the whole mixture is simmered for about five minutes. This process provides the steak with enough time to rest for cutting.

We really enjoyed the buttery flavor of the steak - it's not for every day, but it was a nice little treat! We probably should have sliced our bell peppers slightly more thinly, because they were still on the crisp side in our finished dish, compared with the tender, shaved-looking peppers in the recipe image.

We would definitely make this recipe again, and we'd recommend it to our readers, too, as a no-fuss weeknight meal. If you try it, let us know what you think in the comments section!

Spicy Asian Marinated Flank Steak

We love finding a quick, low-maintenance recipe, and we sure did find it in yesterday's Spicy Asian Marinated Flank Steak (Cooking Light, June 2010).

This recipe does require some advance preparation, because the steak needs to be marinated for 24 hours. It also has a barrage of ingredients, most of which are pantry staples that you will have already. (Yes, we have bottled ginger at all times - why do you ask?)

The first step is to combine almost all of the ingredients (the first 10) in a ziplock bag. Place it in the fridge for 24 hours, remembering to turn it...well, whenever you remember. That part's not essential.

When you get home in the evening, transfer the marinated steak to the grill or a grill pan, coating whichever you choose with a heavy dose of cooking spray. Grill the meat for 4 minutes on each side, or until you're comfortable with the degree of doneness.

We accidentally deleted our action shot of the steak being grilled, but we did grab a picture with the finished product, all dressed up! This is the meat with a side of steamed rice and some sugar snow peas, red bell peppers, and red onions, which we sauteed for about 5 minutes in toasted sesame oil and a dash of sea salt.

Between the quick-cooking steak, the easy side, and our good friend, the rice cooker, this dinner was a cinch to put together. The meat was flavorful but not overwhelming, with the grilled pineapple adding a touch of sweetness. This dish could become a staple for us, especially if we start working in new spices and flavors with the same standard formula. (Next time we're thinking jalapeno peppers and a dash of sriracha rooster sauce!)