Grilling for the Fourth of July

My sister Alivia is a vegetarian and since she has been staying with me, I have been skipping meat instead of making two completely different meals. Lately I have had a craving for some beef. So, I invited my carnivorous brother over for some tasty flank steak topped with a Chimichurri sauce. Chimichurri sauce reigns from Argentina or Uruguay and is a wonderful complement to the richness of the steak. It’s always fun to have Jeff over, he loves food as much as I do, and when he eats three plates full; I just know it’s a winner. For fussy kids that won’t eat the sauce, cut the meat in thin strips for tasty tacos.

Enjoy!

Flank Steak with Chimichurri Sauce



Flank steak has become increasingly popular over the last 5 years or so. It’s such a great cut with lots of flavor and when cooked properly, it is so juicy and tender. This cut of meat needs to be cooked medium rare to medium, the longer you cook it, the more tough it becomes. Don’t worry, it’s easy…

Chimichurri Dressing
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons parsley leaves
1 garlic clove
1/4 jalapeno pepper, seeded (leave some seeds in if you like it hot)
2 tablespoons white vinegar
5-6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
to taste Kosher salt

Mix all solid ingredients with vinegar in a blender and blend until smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil while continuing to blend. Add salt to taste. If dressing is too thick, add a small ice cube to thin the sauce. Set aside.

Flank Steak
Kosher salt
Ground black pepper
Garlic powder

Lightly sprinkle steak with Kosher salt, ground black pepper and garlic powder, rub into meat.
Preheat grill to medium-high.
Take a paper towel coated in oil and brush along grate of grill and heat another minute to season the grill so your meat won’t stick.
Place steak on grill and cook on first side a total of 4 minutes, after the first 2 minutes, rotate the steak on the first side 45 degrees to make cross-hatched grill marks.
Flip the steak and cook on second side another 4 minutes.
Let steak rest 7 minutes before cutting. This keeps the steak juicy and moist, cutting any sooner will release the liquid in your steak onto the cutting board, leaving you with a tough cut of meat.
Make sure to cut the steak against the grain in thin strips on a bias. Cutting this way will also help in keeping the meat tender, if you cut with the grain, the meat will be chewy and tougher.

Top with Chimichurri Dressing and enjoy!