Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Steak Dinner With Grilled Romaine Plus Quinoa With Tomato, Feta, Basil And Lemon Vinaigrette

My wife grilled some more of those bacon wrapped sirloins from Costco along with some romaine lettuce.  While she was doing that I made this wonderful dish of quinoa with feta, tomatoes and basil tossed with a lemon vinaigrette.  I got this recipe from a wonderful blog called Shut Up and Cook. I saw this recipe and I commented to the blog's author that we had to make it and we did!

It went together pretty easily and we timed it so it would be ready about the same time as the steaks and lettuce. I did take a shortcut or two, however. For example, I didn't chop the feta, I just crumbled it.  Also, we were a little low on regular sweet basil so we used lemon basil and cut back on the lemon juice a bit.

As for the dish itself, it was a well balanced combination of the quinoa, feta and tomato.  None of the three main elements overpowered the rest.  The seasoning is simple but effective. I love the tang of the lemon and both the basil and the lemon juice contribute fresh, lively flavors to the dish.

We really liked it and my only complaint is directed at myself: I should have read the author's comment that this halves easily, because it did make an huge quantity. It won't go to waste, but next time, I think we will tone it done to a half recipe so it does not last as long.

But I definitely consider the dish a success and I plan on making it again before the end of fresh tomatoes from the farmer's market.

It is interesting to look at too. Quinoa is a fun and extremely healthy food, and it gives the dish a distinct appearance.


This was a particularly Costco oriented meal. The steaks,  quinoa, feta and romaine lettuce all came from  Costco, along with a few of the other ingredients such as olive oil and pepper.

Speaking of the romaine lettuce, we served it with some of the left over dressing from the grilled pork salad we made the other day.  I enjoyed it even more than the dressing from Alton Brown. This experience with the lettuce reaffirmed our desire to make that dressing a standard recipe in our repertoire.

This was a great meal that was easy, upscale and very reasonably priced.  And while there is definitely some fat in the steak, the rest of the meal is balanced and quite nutritious.

No comments:

Post a Comment