Spanish Steak

Another quick and easy recipe...serve with spanish rice & beans and a vegetable to make a full meal.

London Broil works well for this...I usually buy sirloin, but if it's not on sale top round is fine. I nearly always have one in the freezer, that way if I've been caught out not having anything for dinner, I can slice it up frozen (it's actually easier to slice) for this or in a stir fry.

Slice your steak as thin as possible. Mix the steak with olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano. Fry in batches until just cooked so as not to get too tough. I find some extra oil does wonders for the taste.

I also slice and cook onions first....my kids don't like it with the onions, so I serve them first and warm thru for us real people.

(Sorry I didn't get a picture of the finished dish....it was gone so quick!)

Sofrito

Sofrito is a traditional Spanish cooking sauce. I usually have a container of Goya's in the freezer which I use in beans, which makes a great instant meal...instead of eating yet another pizza.




If you want to make your own and freeze here's the recipe:


Ingredients

2 medium green peppers, seeds removed
1 red sweet pepper, seeds removed
2 large tomatoes
2 medium onions, peeled
1 head of garlic, peeled
1 bunch cilantro leaves
1/2 bunch parsley leaves

Peel garlic and chop ingredients into sizes that are small enough to fit into a food processor or blender. If you freeze them into ice cube trays you need only add them to your food as needed.

Spanish Red Beans

I have been so blessed to have a Mother-In-Law that catered for 20 years on Long Island. She knows how to cook. But at home she loves her spanish food, which I am not terribly fond of...but some of it is really good. There's nothing like a really good pot of beans with rice, for whatever reason...quick, cheap, easy, nutritious and satisfying. I often serve as a side to Spanish Beef, and I'll post that recipe next week.

Ingredients

3 large cans kidney beans
(if you use small cans make sure you change the
tablespoon measures of the spices to teaspoons
or you'll end up with chili)

1/2 onion diced

1 green pepper diced

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon cumin

2 tablespoon coriander

1 teaspoon salt

Preparation
Cook peppers & onion until soft. Add spices and cook 1 minute. Add kidney beans. Cover and simmer approx 15 minutes. We love diced squash added to the pot. Serve over rice with corn on the side and lots of hot sauce.

Cheesy Polenta

Ingredients
3 cups water
1 cup milk
1 cup polenta
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ cup parmesan, romano or asiago

Preparation
Bring water to a boil. Add milk, salt and polenta meal. Turn heat down to medium. Remove from heat as polenta thickens. Add cheese and seasonings, stir well. Serve warm or form in a greased loaf pan and cool.