Blackened Flank Steak and Sauteed Spinach

You may finally be finishing up your Christmas ham left-overs, but there's still time to sneak in one more red and green meal before New Years- that is, if you're a fan of red meat :)








Blackened Flank Steak

- 1lb flank steak
- Worcestershire sauce
- garlic and onion powder
- cajun seasoning or chili powder
- black pepper
- olive oil

1.  Moderately tenderize your steak with a hammer or by vigorously stabbing it with a fork on each side.
2.  Drizzle Worcestershire sauce on both sides of the steak and spread with a fork to coat fairly evenly.
3.  Lightly sprinkle with garlic, onion and cajun/chili powder, then coat with a hefty dose of black pepper.  (both sides)
4.  Meanwhile, heat a skillet over high heat and add oil to the pan.  When the oil is just about to smoke, throw in the steak and scorch each side for about a minute.  Turn the heat down to medium and continue to cook for 5 minutes on each side (medium rare) or until the steak reaches your desired level of doneness.
5.  Cut in long slices against the grain and you're ready to eat!

[Serves 2]

Notes

• I have trouble finding flank steaks in the US anywhere but Super Target.  This may be an anomaly, but if not, a skirt steak or a flank steak masquerading as a "London broil" will also do.
• A fillet knife makes slicing this steak a breeze, but I've found that a big bread knife is pretty good for slicing beef too.
• I often find when blackening that a ton of my pepper and spices come off in the pan and burn up.  If you dust some more pepper while it's cooking, you'll still have a mess, but you won't lose too much flavor.  Some other ways I've seen to keep better hold of your spices include:
• Rubbing the spices into the meat
• Lightly coating the meat in oil first 
• Mixing oil/butter in a bowl with the spices before coating, then using the same mixture to baste the meat throughout cooking
• Coating the meat in raw egg white before seasoning

Sauteed Spinach

- 2-4 cups fresh, raw spinach leaves

- 2 cloves of garlic sliced / garlic powder / garlic granules

- grated parmesan cheese

- olive oil

1.  Heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add about a tablespoon of oil and season the oil with the garlic.

2. Throw in the spinach and saute for no more than 5 minutes, keeping the spinach moving in the pan with a spatula.  Just as all the spinach is wilting, sprinkle lightly with parmesan cheese and remove from pan.

3.  Ready to eat!

[Serves 2]

Recipe adapted from Quick and Easy Sauteed Spinach by Denee on Allrecipes.com