My cooking adventure!

The more stressed out I get, the more I'm trying to make sure I make time for things that relax me. Right now it's yoga and cooking that are keeping me sane. I wanted to blog a little about cooking (a la Kelsey) so here it goes.

I made flank steak and balsamic green beans with parmesan potatoes. The recipe is courtesy of my Cooking Light Magazine and it says it will be ready in 40 minutes. It took me about 40 minutes. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/beef-tenderloin-steaks-balsamic-50400000118569/

2 teaspoons butter, divided
1 cup vertically sliced yellow onion
1 cup vertically sliced red onion
1/4 cup sliced shallots
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium beef broth
2 cups green beans, trimmed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
4 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks or 1 pound flank steak
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
2 cups of mashed potatoes
1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese

The green beans: these were amazing! I warmed them up and ate them all week. *sidenote: after watching the Food Network: the Big Waste, I've been trying to use produce that might be slightly less than perfect. Half of my green beans were older, so they had a few brown marks, but I used them anyway!
1. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions and shallots; sauté 6 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add broth; cook 4 minutes or until onions are tender and liquid almost evaporates. Add beans and vinegar; cover and cook 4 minutes or until beans are crisp-tender. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining 1 teaspoon butter and 1/8 teaspoon salt; keep warm.

The steak: The recipe uses beef tenderloin, it suggest that if you are on a budget you can substitute flank steak, so I did. The jury is still out as to whether this was a good idea. The flank steak was a little tough.
Sprinkle steaks with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steaks to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve with bean mixture.

The potatoes: To 2 cups mashed potatoes, stir in 1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese. Add 1/8tsp of freshly ground black pepper. If you want, you can also toss 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions.

It was delicious the first night, and the following 3 or 4 nights I ate it!!