Grilled Beef & Broccoli
HI! Back again with an easy, nutritious and delicious recipe for you. This time, I took the classic Chinese take out dish, beef and broccoli, (you know you love that mystery meat) and made it into a simple, summery, grillable dinner. Yay! Much less mysterious, and tastes just as good, if not better, in it’s own kind of remixed way.
What's really cool about this dish is that all together it is a perfect example of how to build a meal to maximize iron absorption. Iron is pretty important for athletic performance (more on that coming up) but, many athletes, especially females and non-meat eaters, aren't getting enough. One food-focused way to increase your dietary iron is to build a meal following the formula: animal iron food + plant iron food + vitamin c food - calcium foods. (Here it's made as beef + brown rice + broccoli - any added dairy) This thoughtful combo can actually increase how much iron your body can absorb from a meal, helping you support and optimize performance.
So, this dish calls for a bit of marinating. But, before you click away from the thought of having to plan ahead, let me say that you could totally get the marinating all done in 5 minutes in the morning, and come home later to a lovely marinated steak ready to hit the grill for dinner. Requires very little effort, and sooo worth it.
Serve the beef and broc with some brown rice, a little scallion and sesame, and you are good to go with a super flavorful, fresh, and balanced dinner. This is a fun summer recipe that helps squash your Chinese take-out cravings without the grease ball feelings aftermath. (I know you know what I mean) I hope you enjoy it soon!
Grilled Beef and Broccoli
Makes about 4 servings
1 lb. (½ kg) flank steak
2 heads broccoli
4 tbs. oyster sauce
2 tbs. canola/vegetable oil
2 tbs. reduced sodium soy sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced or grated
4 tsp. fresh ginger, minced or grated
brown rice, cooked
scallion, thinly sliced
sesame seeds
Mix the oyster sauce, oil, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic together in a small bowl. Use half the sauce to marinate the steak; coat flank well and let sit in a covered container in the fridge for a few hours up to about a day. Reserve the other half of the sauce in the fridge as well.
When it’s time to eat, heat up the grill. While it’s warming, cut the broccoli into large florets. You should get around 6 per broc head. In a big bowl, toss the broccoli with the reserved marinade. Head out to the grill with the beef and broccoli. (Don’t forget the tongs!) To best avoid sticking, I like to give the grill a spray with some non-stick spray, but it’s not necessary.
Put steak and broccoli on the grill. Cook until char lines develop on the bottom (patience!), then turn everything, and repeat. At this point, cooking times are kind of up to you and how you prefer your food. I cooked the broccoli until it was bright green and al dente. The steak I cooked to about a medium. This took around 10 minutes, but definitely depends on your grill, so I can’t be too specific, sorry!
When done cooking, (turn that grill off) remove it all from the grill and let the steak rest a couple minutes before slicing into it. Plate thinly sliced with the broccoli, brown rice, and top with scallions and sesame seeds. Yum!
Notes: Easily halve or duplicate this recipe as needed. You could use another cut of meat as you like. I guess you could marinate the broccoli starting at the same time as the steak, but my gut says it might get a little soggy after a few hours. Yes, you can save leftovers to be reheated, but we all know reheated steak is just not the same. I know oyster sauce sounds gross, but I promise it’s awesome here!