A (Slightly) Steakhouse Dinner

This fall weather, and a bit of a lingering sniffle, made me think we needed some heartier--but no less healthy--fare in these parts. That's want sent us (bargain) hunting to the meat aisle for something beyond the usual lean cuisine.

As it turned out, the meat manager was smiling down on us and had put out an odd combo pack: a sirloin roast, cubes and thin sliced steaks. Three pounds of bright red beef for $10 at Fairway. Deal! Visions of restocking the freezer danced in my head and we were quickly on our way to a steak dinner -- or my mock version of one.

I wasn't sure what to do with a sirloin roast. It's a tender cut (so the meat manager said) and therefore not a good match for slow cooking. Said manager gave me his advice and it turned out pretty well, I think. Almost a roast beef consistency if I hadn't sliced it so thick. Also on deck: oven fries from our CSA potato supply and a low-fat version of creamed spinach using some bigs leaves also from the CSA that week.

Sirloin Roast Straight Up

2 pound beef sirloin roast

salt

pepper

Salt and pepper the roast and place in a roasting pan with rack. Cook at 350F for 40 minutes, 20 minutes per pound. I guesstimated the weight (must get kitchen scale...) but it was a lovely dark pink inside so I think I guessed correctly. Two tips: 1. Let it rest for a while. 2. Slice as thinly as possible. Mine were a little thick which made the slices a bit less tender than anticipated.

Meanwhile...make those:

Oven Steak Fries

5-6 small-medium potatoes, red and yellow

olive oil

garlic

salt pepper

I'm usually very disappointed with "oven" fries. But I finally realized that it's all about the expectation. Oven roasted fries are not real fries. They are an approximation and if you give up the hope that they will be magically as crispy as real fries you will be way more pleased than you might imagine with the final product here. They were crispy, and soft on the inside, and full of potato flavor, but in a way totally different from a deep fried potato.

Cut the potatoes, skin on, into thin wedges. Coat on the baking tray with olive oil, a clove or two of minced garlic, salt and pepper. Bake 40 minutes at 350F along side the roast, then with the roast out turn it up for 20 minutes at 420F.

Now with the fries roasting, the roast resting, it's time to saute the spinach and make it creamy.

"Creamed" Spinach

1 onion, chopped

1 1/2 tablespoons butter

1 Tablespoon oil

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

1/4 cup milk, 1 %

Spinach, about a 1/2 pound

nutmeg, freshly ground

salt and pepper

What we're doing here is faking a bechamel sauce, since it's just a tiny bit of butter and flour, and a splash of low fat milk. In a medium saute pan, melt the butter and oil together. Add the chopped onion and stir around until the onions are translucent, but not brown. Turn down the heat and sprinkle flour right on top. Mix it around and let the flour absorb any liquid. Cook the floured combo for about a minute. Now dribble in some milk and stir. You don't want the milk solids to stick to the pan. Keep adding milk slowly until you begin to see a very little bit of white sauce. Now add the spinach and stir as it wilts. Grate some fresh nutmeg and salt and pepper. Done!

And of course, add a big glass of red wine.

Happy Sunny Tacos

Maybe it's because I associate them with sunny California and all my fun West Coast visits, but when I need a little cheering, tacos can go a long way.

Directions: Pile. Fold. Stuff face.

Long before they were in fashion, I was mildly obsessed with taquerias, specifically those that are mobile and a little dirty looking. The first time I visited California to see a college friend who'd moved home, we were in search of cheap eats and, naturally, we hit a taqueria. I wish I remembered where we went (someplace in LA, how's that for vague?), but I fell in love with the soft tortilla, the salty meat and the fresh mix of cilantro, onion and lime. And there were surprises, too: cabbage was a revelation, fish tacos, radishes, tomatillo's tangy green sauce. This was not the Old El Paso!

So for a little mood elevation, I pick up tortillas and the ingredients for any number of taco combos that are a dependable part of the Lemon menu. In this case I found a deal on beef eye round slices. I'm not a big fan of thin sliced beef because it is such a challenge to keep it moist, but for a quick dinner these worked out perfectly. Cook 'em fast over high heat on one side then turn off the heat and they'll cook themselves while you assemble the rest of the taco fixings. And oh what fixings: Add some black beans and sliced avocado, shred a little leftover cabbage, throw together some pico de gallo and a happy memory comes to the table.

Sliced Beef Tacos with The Works

1 can Goya black beans, low sodium

oregano

1 teaspoon white vinegar

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 package small flour tortillas (you can find them trans-fat free)

3-4 thin-cut beef round eye

cumin

chili powder

1/2 large tomato

1 bunch cilantro

1/2 red onion, diced

1 lime

1/2 avocado

1 cup green cabbage, shredded

2 ounces cheddar, thin sliced or shredded

In a small saucepan, add one can of black beans with their "juice" plus 2 cloves grated or minced garlic, a teaspoon of white vinegar and sprinkling of oregano (maybe a 1/4 teaspoon if you're measuring) and a pinch of salt. Heat over medium heat and move on to the beef...

Heat a nonstick pan over high heat and add a little olive oil. When it's very hot, add your sliced beef and sprinkle with 2 cloves minced garlic, salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin. This is one of the only times I use the sprinkling-cover (what is it called??) that comes with most grocery store spice bottles. Just a little, not too much. When the edges of the beef look brown, flip it over and turn off the heat.

Now for the rest of the fun: throw together in a bowl some chopped cilantro, onion, tomato and the juice of one lime. Slice some avocado and shred some green cabbage and if you've got it, cheese. Take the beef out of the pan and slice in strips. We used three rounds and saved the other half for the next night (with some Chimichurri.)

Pile it on a flour tortilla (heat them in the microwave if you are so inclined) and fold it over. Stuff face and feel the joy of a warm sunny California afternoon (ignoring the smog and traffic, naturally.)

Tally:

Great use of half-used vegetables (tomato, onion, cabbage, avocado!)

A touch of beef makes this not too unhealthy, not too pricey

Taco happiness lifts the mood on an ordinary night

Leftover toppings + leftover beans = lunch the next day