A Healthier Way to Indulge: My Take on the Beloved Steak Taco Dinner
Sitting atop a Kams’ barstool last weekend, a fellow bar goer struck up the usual senior year conversation…
What are you doing when you graduate? I gladly explained my dreams of working in the food world and my plans to attend culinary school. The usual question and comment followed…“What is your favorite food?” & “You’ll make a great wife”. Even though I am fascinated by the lives of housewives like New York’s Bethenny or Beverly Hill’s Kyle, I was quick to end the conversation. However, the former question got me thinking… what is my favorite food? The age old battle for any chef is answering questions just like this one.
What is your favorite dish to make?
What is your favorite kind of food? Italian? Mexican? Chinese?
Where can you get the best (insert Double Bacon Cheeseburger)?
The popularity of this curiosity has blown up in the media. An entire television series, “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” has been created to teach foodies where famous chefs have enjoyed their favorites. For me, answering these questions is near impossible. However, I can confidently say that Mexican food and its beloved steak taco dinner is easily in my top five. As easy as it may be for me to visit Dos Reales or El Toro, I know that these meals will set me far back from my goal of strutting my stuff in an itsy bitsy bikini over Spring Break. So I have created my version of the steak taco dinner than can make you feel less guilty about than the restaurant version. So think of this as a HEALTHIER way to INDUGLE.
The Dish: Steak Tacos
Swap corn tortillas with your favorite whole wheat version. In this Spring Brea
k state of mind, people tend to shy away from carbohydrates. However, according to the Whole Grains Council, eating whole grains has a variety of health benefits which include better weight maintenance. When it comes to cheese go for the good stuff. According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, women who ate an ounce of full-fat cheese daily gained fewer pounds than women who did not eat cheese. So skip the low fat premade Mexican cheese blend and purchase a block of Chihuahua. This creamy Mexican cheese will satisfy your cravings with a whole lot less than that pre shredded nonsense.
Quick Fix: Marinate flank steak in garlic, lime, cilantro and a cumin for a few hou
rs. Broil the steak until the outside is brown and the inside is pink. Throw the tortillas in the oven while you let the steak cool for 10 minutes on a cutting board. Slice the steak thinly across the grain (think of the grain in the steak like the grain in wood. Cut perpendicular to the natural lines of the meat). Top the tortillas with steak, diced raw onions, shredded lettuce and a sprinkle of Chihuahua cheese.
The Dish: Rice (Thanks for the inspiration from Light N Hearty Magazine)
At most Mexican restaurants, the side of rice is fried. In order to gain that same crisped texture, you need to sauté the rice in a little bit of oil. In order to cook it thoroughly, you need to bake it after you fry it. I am sure most of you would think making this dish with brown rice is a no brainer healthy alternative but it is too far of a stretch. When using brown rice, the result in texture is nowhere near satisfying my fried Mexican rice fix. So reach for the white rice and stick to a smaller portion (½ cup cooked).
Quick Fix: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sauté garlic, ¼ cup diced onion and ¼ cup Anaheim peppers in a few tablespoons of canola oil. Add 1 cup of rice, a t of cumin, salt and pepper. Sauté the mixture for about six minutes or until rice is golden brown. Pour this mixture into a cake pan with a can of tomato sauce and a cup of chicken broth (or water). Bake for 30 minutes and enjoy!
*If you want to turn up the heat, try using jalapeno or habanero peppers instead of Anaheims!
The Dish: Beans
Similar to the rice, frying the beans for just a little bit will give them good consistency without as much guilt. Often, refried beans include lard or bacon fat but I’ve replaced the fat with a healthier alternative – olive oil.
Quick Fix: Sauté garlic and onions in a saucepan in a T of olive oil. Add a can of rinsed, smashed pinto (or black) beans and fry slightly. The beans are already cooked so it should only take a few minutes.
Serve with two steak tacos and rice. Enjoy!
Photo Sources:
www.ezrapoundcake.com
www.mytastebuddies.blogspot.com
www.phamfatale.com