Summer Supper

Grilled Flank Steak with Peppers and Onions

Tex-Mex Couscous

It was bound to happen sooner or later. There was an intervention in the making.

For our family, summer means lots of water fun (requiring a bathing suit) and forcing a reality check resulting from a winter of over indulgence and hardy eating. I don't know which is worse, trying to fit into last years Esther Williams one piece skirt type bathing dress or shopping for a new one.

All the good intentions in the world haven't controlled my appetite, so my family intervened. Weight Watchers, Annelle. You're going to Weight Watchers. I'm already a lifetime member. And I've used the program several times in the last 30 years to whip myself back in shape, but things have been so crazy lately, I couldn't imagine making it work, again. Never underestimate the power of a determined family.

Long story short, most of the recipes for the next few months will be a little lighter, a lot fresher and perfect for this hot summer weather. I say 'most' because there will be indulgences. My goal is to make the indulgences worth their weight.

I do know that the Weight Watchers plan is a way of eating that can easily translate to the rest of the family. It's healthy, varied and satisfying. It you've looked at the new USDA Food Plate (http://www.choosemyplate.gov/), you'll notice an uncanny similarity. The only difference between a good healthy diet and the Weight Watchers diet is a firm grip on portion control.

Yes, the secret is still healthy eating with portion control, moderate exercise, and a respectable amount of water. I should have it tattooed on my arm.

Grilled Flank Steak with Onions and Peppers

(6 servings)

One and one-half lbs. Flank steak

4 T Worcestershire sauce

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Cumin

2 tsp. Stubbs Chili-lime rub (or your favorite Tex-Mex seasoning)

Add Worcestershire sauce, oil, salt, cumin and seasoning to zip lock bag and swish to combine. Add flank steak and refrigerate for several hours.

Grill over medium coals for about 5-6 minutes per side, for medium rare. Remove meat to platter, cover with foil and set aside to rest.

2 tsp. Extra virgin olive oil

1 red pepper, thinly sliced

1 sweet onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (10 oz.) can Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Chilies (I recommend 'mild')

One-half tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Stubbs Chile-lime Spice Rub (or your favorite Tex-Mex seasoning)

One-half tsp. Chipotle Chile Pepper (or just plan Chili powder)

Add olive oil to pan over medium heat. Add peppers and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until becoming tender. Then add garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Finally add the can of diced tomatoes and chiles and seasoning, turn the heat down and let simmer until most of the liquid is gone.

Slice the flank steak thinly across the grain of the meat. Add to cooked vegetables.

Serve with tortillas and cheese.

Tex-Mex Couscous Salad

This is a slightly modified Weight Watchers recipe. I'll guarantee you'll prepare it again and again!

(6 servings)

three-fourths cup Original Plain Couscous, prepared as directed on box, fluffed, and cooled to room temperature

1 cup chopped tomatoes that have been seeded

1 cup peeled, chopped English cucumber

2 scallions, diced

one-third cup chopped fresh cilantro

Juice of one lime

2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil

three-fourths tsp. Salt

One-half tsp. Cumin

1 avocado, diced

When couscous is cool, add tomatoes, cucumbers, scallions, and cilantro and toss to mix. Add lime juice, olive oil, salt and cumin and toss again. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Dice avocado and add to salad just before serving.

Corned Beef Two Ways for St. Patty's Day

For St. Patty's Day we're skipping the traditional corned beef and cabbage and going straight to Reubens. A good Reuben sandwich is hard to beat. I tried to find a little history, but no one seemed to have a definitive answer. It probably happened just as our Reubens do: left over corned beef with added ingredients that naturally compliment the meat flavor. Corned beef and cabbage have always been a good pairing, but corned beef and sauerkraut: priceless. Add good bread, I prefer pumpernickel instead of rye, Russian dressing and swiss cheese, plus grilling the sandwich with butter and you have the perfect Reuben. Serve your Reuben with dill pickles and Leek and Potato Gratin for a full meal.

If you want the traditional meal, begin exactly the same way—with a good corned beef brisket. I rinse the meat and cut off the excess fat cap. My brisket weighed 3 lbs. I put it in my heavy stock pot, covered it with beef broth, added the spice packet and a quartered onion and simmered on low for 2 ½ to 3 hours. For sandwiches, remove the brisket from the broth and let it rest for fifteen or twenty minutes before slicing. Thinly slice, sprinkle with a little cooking broth and cover until ready to make the sandwiches.

If you're going the traditional route, I usually cook the meat a little longer, and add halved red potatoes, carrot pieces and cabbage during the last hour of cooking. Either way, corned beef is a great way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day around the table.

Leek and Potato Gratin

(I saw this recipe in the New York Times, and then changed, using the ingredients I had on hand.)

3 leeks, remove the tops and discard

6 T butter, divided

2 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced

Salt and Pepper

1 cup sour cream

One-fourth cup milk or cream

One-half teaspoon dried thyme, or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

One and one-half cups shredded cheese of choice (cheddar, gruyere, asiago, parmesan)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Slice leeks open lengthwise and rinse under running water. Dry with paper towel.

Cut into quarter inch rings.

Add 2 tablespoons butter to saute pan over medium heat.

Saute leeks in butter until softened.

Salt and pepper potato slices, add about a tablespoon of melted butter and mix potatoes well with hands, coating and separating slices.

Butter casserole dish.

Layer potatoes into dish and cover with leeks.

Heat sour cream, milk, remaining butter and thyme in pan that held leeks. When warm, add cheese, stirring until cheese combines with cream. Taste for salt and pepper.

Pour mixture on top of leeks.

Cover casserole with foil and bake for one hour, or until potatoes are tender.

Reuben Sandwiches

3 lb. Corned beef brisket with spice packet

2 quarts beef broth (or enough to cover brisket)

1 onion, quartered

Russian Dressing*

Prepared Sauerkraut (I used Kroger brand refrigerated section)

Spicy Brown Mustard

2 lb. Swiss cheese sandwich slices

1 stick butter, melted

1 loaf Rye bread (I prefer marbled rye or pumpernickel), sliced

Dill pickles

Cook brisket in beef broth with added spice packet and onion for about 3 hours, on low heat at a slow simmer, slightly covered.

Remove brisket and tent with foil, letting it rest until ready to slice.

Heat heavy iron skillet or grill pan. Butter outside of both pieces of bread for one sandwich. Spread Russian dressing thinly on inside of each piece of bread. Add a little spicy mustard to inside of slice.

Build sandwich beginning with bottom slice of bread, swiss cheese, thin layer of sauerkraut, several slices of corned beef, another slice of cheese and then the top of the sandwich.

Grill on each side until bread is toasted, and cheese is melted.

Serve with dill pickles.

*Russian Dressing

1 cup mayonnaise

One-fourth cup chili sauce

1 shallot, finely minced

2 T sweet pickle relish

1 T Worcestershire Sauce

1 tsp. Prepared horseradish

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.

Not Enough Time for Irish Stew? Try this!

Guinness Ribeye, Smashed Irish Potatoes and Savory Scones

St. Paddy's Day screams for a food celebration, beginning with Guinness and ending with a nice Irish Coffee, the perfect 'dessert' for any Irish meal. If you don't have the time to take a stew or corned beef to the finish line (you can use the slow cooker for both of these with some preplanning) I have a good suggestion. Guinness Ribeye can be on the table in 30 minutes, and the whole meal, potatoes, scones and all, in about an hour. I made a test run Sunday night, and with a tossed salad and the Irish Coffee, you have a full meal. Serve it country style, which at our house means 'bring the pots to the table'! I think you'll be happy with the flavor of the Guinness sauce and steak, which really does make me think of a good stew!

Guinness Steak with Irish Potatoes

4 thick Rib Eye Steaks, salted and peppered

3 T extra virgin olive oil, divided

4 T butter, divided

2 shallots, chopped

4 cups sliced mushrooms

1 cup Guinness Stout

1 T tomato paste

1 T chopped fresh parsley

8 small potatoes (or 4 larger potatoes) scrubbed and cut into 2 inch pieces

3 garlic cloves, smashed

2 T fresh herbs, chopped (ie sage, thyme, rosemary—or a combination)

Preheat oven to 375°.

Parboil potatoes in salted water just until becoming tender. Drain potatoes and toss in 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper, smashed garlic cloves, and chopped herbs. Spread on sheet pan and place in oven while preparing steaks. Stir the potatoes a couple of times while cooking. Potatoes should be browned on outside and tender on inside when done. Scrape potatoes into bowl, discarding garlic. Add 3 tablespoons butter and smash into chunks with potato masher.

Add one tablespoon olive oil and one tablespoon of butter to large skillet (preferably an iron skillet) over high heat. When melted and sizzling, add steaks and sear for about 2 minutes each side. Remove steaks, place on sheet pan in preheated 375° oven for 6-8 minutes for medium rare (this can be same oven you're using for the potatoes, just a different rack). Remove steaks from oven when they reach desired doneness, cover with foil and set aside. Remember they will cook a little more while resting.

Reduce heat to medium under iron skillet, and add mushrooms and shallots. Saute until mushrooms are lightly browned on each side. Add Guinness and tomato paste, stir to deglaze pan, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until liquid is reduced to half. Place steaks into pan with mushrooms (along with any accumulated juice), spooning mushrooms over steak. Top with chopped parsley.

Savory Irish Scones

2 cups self-rising flour

1 tsp. Baking powder

One-half tsp. Salt

1 stick cold butter cut into small cubes

1 tsp. Mixed dried herbs

1 cup shredded cheese

One cup milk

1 egg

Preheat oven to 400°.

Spray one cake pan with butter flavored

Sift flour (White Lily is thought to be the best American scone flour—it has less protein than others, which means less gluten, and better for light pastries.) and baking powder. Add cold butter pieces, and with fingers, mix for about one minute until coarse meal consistency.

Add cheese and dried herbs to flour and mix gently with fork.

Whisk milk and egg together, then begin adding milk and fluffing with fork until dough forms. There sill be some milk mixture left to use on top of scones. This is a wet dough.

Form dough into ball shape, turn onto lightly floured board, and very gently form into thick circle. Handle as little as possible. Cut into eight triangles. Dip tops of each piece into leftover milk/egg mixture and place in cake pan..

Bake for 10 minutes on top rack, turn pan front to back, and bake five more minutes. Remove from oven and place scones on cooling rack for about 15 minutes. Remove from pan to serving platter and recut wedges.

Buena Vista Irish Coffee Story

http://www.thebuenavista.com/irishcoffee.html

Irish Coffee

(My first Irish Coffee was at the Buena Vista Café in San Francisco, which claims to perfectly recreate the classic Irish drink.)

Warm your cup with very hot water, then discard the water.

Fill your warmed cup about three-quarters full with hot, strong coffee.

Add 2 sugar cubes (or two teaspoons sugar if you don’t have the cubes) and stir to dissolve.

Add 1 ½ oz. Irish Whiskey to coffee.

Top with sweetened whipped cream which has been lightly whipped.

Pour the lightly whipped cream onto the coffee over a spoon to keep the cream floating on top of the coffee.

Meatloaf: More Than the Name Implies

Rustic Italian Torta

I'm not much of a meatloaf lover. This dish while in every way IS a loaf of meat, doesn't remind me in any way of the meatloaf that has haunted me since childhood. If you combine great complimentary ingredients that work well together in other recipes, you'll probably be happy with your creation. I use this combination for hamburgers, and for cannelloni filling. So, to have a 'meatloaf' in my repertoire, I put these same tastes together to form a rustic Italian torta. I line the pan with bread to catch and absorb all the wonderful juices--oh so good on the hamburger, and equally good here! This is one recipe that tastes even better than you think it will. The torta is very moist. After enjoying it for a Sunday supper, or a week night meal, the leftovers become great sandwiches, especially if nestled into a nice piece of foccacia.

Rustic Italian Torta

SERVES 10

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Several half inch slices of rustic Italian bread
• 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup Pinot Grigio
• 1 cup loosely packed Italian Flat Leaf Parsley leaves
• 1/4 pound hard salami, roughly chopped
• 1/4 pound prosciutto, roughly chopped
• 2 pounds ground veal (I buy veal stew meat and grind it in my food processor)
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (from rustic Italian loaf)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup shredded Parmesano Reggiano
• 1/2 cup sun dried tomato slices in oil
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella
• Fresh basil leaves to garnish
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

• 
  
• Line the outside of a 10 inch spring form pan with foil. Brush the inside bottom with olive oil, and line the inside bottom with bread slices.

Add remaining olive oil to saute pan over medium heat and cook onions until they are 'blond'. Add garlic and cook another couple of minutes. Then add wine and cook until wine is reduced, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

Add parsley, salami and prosciutto to food processor and pulse to chop.

Combine breadcrumbs and milk in small bowl and set aside.

Place ground veal in large bowl. Add ground parsley and meat. Top with onion mixture. Then eggs, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and finally parmesan cheese. With a fork, gently toss to combine these ingredients. Do not over-mix, or compact!

Add half the meat mixture to the prepared spring form pan. Top with half the mozzarella cheese and half the sun-dried tomatoes. Top with remaining meat mixture. Bake for one hour.

Top with remaining mozzarella cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Return to oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, tent with foil, and rest for 10 minutes.

Run a knife around the inside of the pan. Remove sides from pan, leaving the bottom sitting on the foil to catch any stray drippings. With an offset spatula and a large bladed knife (or the largest thin spatula-like things you have), slide torta to serving plate, slice, garnish with fresh basil leaves and enjoy!

Bon Appetito!

Every Day is Burger Grilling Day!

In 2002 I entered a burger contest online. I'd never cooked the burger, it was a whim...I was online, something caught my eye and a few clicks later I was typing away. A few weeks later there was a lady calling to inform me that I was a finalist in the Build a Better Burger Contest. I was praying at that moment that I had saved a copy of my entry...and later that evening, I was praying that the ingredients would actually make a patty that could be grilled.

Well, it all worked out, and after one of the best weekends I've ever spent in my life, my sister and I came home with the 'bacon'--enough money to take us to Italy for some cooking lessons and what led to our wonderful friends in Tuscany--Tuttie-A-Tavola-- www.tutti-a-tavola.com/ ..the Tuscan Mamas.

I cooked that hamburger many, many, many times in the past few years...everybody wanted to taste it. I cooked it until I got tired of cooking it--and of all the times I cooked it, I don't remember ever actually sitting down and enjoying one myself--until a few nights ago.

I happened across some nice looking veal they were trying to give away at the grocery store, and thought, 'What the heck.'

Long story short, it's a darn good burger...maybe even better than I remembered...or maybe it was the beautiful, fall evening...the smell of burgers grilling in the air... It was so juicy...so flavorful...

Try it for yourself...you be the judge!

Vitello Focaccia (12 servings)

¾ cup olive oil

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

2 T Dijon mustard

3 T mixed Italian herbs, dried

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

24 medium tomato slices

24 medium fresh basil leaves

12 slices fresh mozzarella

1 medium sweet yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 T olive oil

¼ lb. hard salami, cubed

¼ lb. Proscuitto, sliced

1-cup Parmesan cheese, grated

¼ cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped

3 lbs. ground veal

2 eggs, beaten

¼ cup dry white wine

Italian flat bread cut into 12 bun sized pieces, and sliced open

½ stick butter, melted

Whisk together the oil, vinegar and mustard. Add herbs and pepper and mix. Pour over tomatoes, basil and mozzarella and set aside.

Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil in small iron skillet on heated grill. Set aside.

Process salami, proscuitto, Parmesan and parsley in food processor just until coarsely ground.

Add onion mixture and salami mixture to ground veal. Add eggs and wine and mix gently with hands to combine. Form into 12 patties, handling as little as possible. (Refrigerate patties until ready to grill.)

Cook on medium grill for 3 minutes on each side, turning only once. Remove from heat and let rest while grilling bread. Butter cut sides of bread and grill, buttered side down until toasted.

Place a veal patty on bottom piece of flat bread. Remove tomatoes, basil and mozzarella from dressing. Place 2 slices tomato, 2 basil leaves and a slice of mozzarella on each patty. Cover with top piece of flat bread…buon appettito!

Want to try Julia's Boeuf Bourguignon? Here it is!

Boeuf Bourguignon from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume One

For 6 people

A 6 ounce chunk of bacon: Remove the rind, and cut bacon into lardons (Sticks, one-fourth inch thick and one and one-half inches long). Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in one and one-half quarts of water. Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450°.

A 9-10 inch fireproof casserole 3 inches deep

1 Tb olive oil or cooking oil

A slotted spoon: Saute the bacon in the oil over moderate heat for 2-3 minutes to brown lightly. Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon. Set casserole aside. Reheat until fat is almost smoking before you saute the beef.

3 lbs. lean stewing beef cut into 2 inch cubes: Dry the beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp. Saute it, a few pieces at a time, in the hot oil and bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides. Add it to the bacon.

1 sliced carrot

1 sliced onion: In the same fat, brown the sliced vegetables. Pour out the sauteing fat.

1 tsp. Salt

One-fourth tsp. Pepper

2 Tb flour: Return the beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper. Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour. Set casserole uncovered in middle position of preheated oven for 4 minutes. Toss the meat and return to oven for 4 minutes more. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.) Remove casserole, and turn oven down to 325 degrees.

3 cups of a full bodied, young red wine

2 to 3 cups brown beef stock or canned beef bouillon

1 Tb tomato paste

2 cloves mashed garlic

One-half tsp. Thyme

A crumbled bay leaf

The blanched bacon rind: Stir in the wine, and enough stock to that the meat is barely covered. Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind. Bring to simmer on top of the stove. Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of preheated oven. Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for two and one-half to three hours. The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.

18-24 small white onions, brown braised in stock: add one and one-half Tb butter and one and one-half Tb oil to skillet over moderate heat. Add onions and saute over moderate heat for about 10 minutes. Don't break the skin but roll them around to brown as evenly as possible. Then add one-half cup brown beef stock, salt and pepper to taste and a bouquet garni of 4 parsley sprigs, one-half bay leaf and one-fourth tsp. Thyme tied in cheesecloth. Cover and simmer slowly for 40-50 minutes until onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape and liquid has evaporated. Discard herb bouquet.

1 lb. Quartered fresh mushrooms sauteed in butter: (Successfully sauteed mushrooms are lightly browned and exude none of their juice while they are being cooked; to achieve this the mushrooms must be dry, the butter very hot and the mushrooms must not be crowded in the pan.) Use 2 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil for half pound of mushrooms. Place skillet over high heat with butter and oil. As soon as you see the butter foam has begun to subside, add the mushrooms. Toss and shake the pan for 4-5 minutes. As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat and repeat with remaining mushrooms.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms as above. Set them aside until needed.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan. Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it. Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.

Skim fat off the sauce. Simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises. You should have about two and one-half cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly. If too thin, boil it down rapidly. If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock. Taste for seasoning. Pour sauce over the meat and vegetables. Cover casserole and simmer for 2-3 minutes, basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce several times. Serve with boiled potatoes, buttered noodles or rice, and decorate with parsley sprigs.

Too much anticipation leads to unrealistic expectations...

I saw the movie, I read the related books, I watched some old TV clips...and then I headed to the kitchen. Looking back, I can clearly see the errors that led to my disappointment, but my head was in the culinary clouds.

Let's start with the recipe: Julia Child's famous Boeuf Bourguignon. I studied the recipe—I mean really studied it—then shopped for all the ingredients. Next came the cooking. I've never followed a recipe more precisely. One of my worst faults is improvisation in the kitchen, but not on this day. Everything was measured, steps were in order, temps and times followed religiously. The kitchen smelled wonderful all afternoon—which is how long it took to prepare this classic—it can't be rushed.

Let me repeat something I knew, but thought did not apply to this particular culinary homage: if it looks like beef stew, and smells like beef stew, it's probably Beef Stew! And frankly, not the best beef stew I've ever eaten.

Looking back at the ingredients, I should have been more realistic. I expected the sauce to be very rich, and push the beef into taste euphoria. It was good, certainly tasty, but not over the top. I used the best burgundy Food Lion sells, and my meat was a good cut—much better than the usual hodge podge I use when making plain old beef stew, and I didn't rush the slow oven cooking.

When it comes right down to the bottom line, nobody knows more about turning beef scraps into a delicious stew than we Southerners, and my grandmother was obviously a culinary genius. You can add all the wine, fine mushrooms, and pearl onions you want, but it's not one bit better—maybe not even as good.

I think I picked the wrong JC recipe to obsess over.

Kicked Up Italian Burgers

Italian Burgers

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 sweet vidalia onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

One-half cup white wine

4 oz. Pepperoni, chopped

1 T dried Italian herbs

One-fourth cup chopped fresh parsley

2 lbs. ground round (85% lean)

One-half lb. Sweet Italian sausage

1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Pepper

3 T melted butter

8 slices provolone cheese

8 Kaiser rolls

Garnish with whole grain mustard, romaine lettuce, sliced Roma tomatoes, and thin slices red onion.

Add olive oil to medium sized sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté chopped onions for 4-5 minutes or until translucent and tender. Add garlic and cook for another minute, then the wine, stirring occasionally until completely reduced. Finally, add pepperoni, Italian herbs and chopped parsley, stir to combine, remove from heat and cool.

Meanwhile, with two forks combine ground round, Italian sausage, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. When onion mixture is cooled, add to meat, and with forks, gently mix.

Divide into eight hamburger patties. Refrigerate until ready to grill.

Prepare grill for medium direct heat. Place patties on grill and brush top side with melted butter. Cook for 3-4 minutes, turn and brush this side with butter. Continue to cook for 3-4 more minutes, or until desired doneness.

Brush cut sides of buns with remaining butter.

Remove burgers from grill, top with provolone cheese, cover and let rest for a few minutes while you grill the cut sides of the buns (1-2 minutes).

Remove buns from grill and add a burgers to each bun.

Dress with whole grain mustard, romaine lettuce, sliced Roma tomatoes, and thin slices of red onion.

Skirt Steak on Grilled Flatbread with Corn and Bean Salsa

(6 servings)

One and one-half lb. Skirt steak (may substitute flank steak)

Rub:

1 tsp. Cumin

One-half tsp. Salt

One-half tsp. Pepper

Mix cumin, salt and pepper. Sprinkle evenly over back and front sides and rub into meat.

Marinade:

1 T dried Italian herbs

2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Zest and juice from one lime

2 T Worcestershire sauce

One-half tsp. Salt

One-half tsp. Pepper

1 tsp. Cumin

3 T extra virgin olive oil

Mix marinade ingredients. Place rubbed skirt steak in ziplock bag, pour in marinade, turn to coat meat. Seal bag and place in refrigerator for 4 hours, or overnight.

Remove meat from marinade, and grill over medium heat for 2-3 minutes per side (medium rare), or to desired doneness. Place meat on platter and cover until cooled. Slice thinly across the grain. Place meat in another ziplock bag and pour any juices from platter over meat. Refrigerate if not using right away (can be made the day before or earlier in the day).

Corn and Bean Salsa

1 (15oz.) can black beans

1 (15 oz.) can sweet corn kernels

One-half cup chopped red onion

2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Zest and juice of one lime

One-half tsp. Salt, pepper and cumin

2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 T extra virgin olive oil

Rinse and drain beans and corn. Add onions. Mix cilantro, lime zest and juice, salt, pepper, cumin, Worcestershire sauce and olive oil. Combine with beans, corn and onions in ziplock bag. Refrigerate if not using right away.

Sandwich:

6 White flour pita flatbreads

1 T extra virgin olive oil

Whole grain mustard

Mixed baby lettuce

3 Italian tomatoes, thinly sliced

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Brush both sides of each flatbread lightly with olive oil. Grill on both sides, or brown in pan over medium heat on stove.

Wrap grilled flatbread in foil and set aside until ready to use.

To make sandwiches spread one side of each flatbread with mustard. Add lettuce, tomato slices, beef, cheese, and a couple of tablespoons of Corn and Bean Salsa. Fold bread, and enjoy!