Easy Steak and Easy Sweet Potatoes and Easy Asparagus
Steak! Who doesn’t love the rich flavor of a heavily marbled ribeye? Vegetarians, I suppose. Vegans and pescatarians too. But now that I think about it, we all know abstinence and love aren’t mutually exclusive. Maybe they do love steak but choose not to eat it for ethical reasons. I didn’t start this food blog to judge people, so I will only speak for myself here. I’m not trying to put words (or food) in anyone’s mouth.
I love steak. A steak done well (not to be confused with well done) is my favorite food. If not for cost concerns I would eat a steak every day. And after last week’s dining disaster I needed a slam dunk. For the sake of my loving relationship, and for the continued existence of this food blog, I had to prove I deserve a place in my kitchen in my own home. So bookmark this recipe for those trying times when you are desperate for a notch in the culinary win column. The flavors go great together and the combination of orange and green sides make for a beautiful plate of dinner.
Recently I tried a recipe from Chelsea Messy Apron for roasted sweet potatoes where she advocates a very high oven temperature (425 degrees) as well as peeling the sweet potatoes prior to roasting. These ideas run contrary to the way I always make sweet potatoes, but she claims sweet potatoes are her favorite vegetable so I gave it a shot. Big mistakes on both fronts. The very high temperature left my sweet potatoes dry and chewy and the lack of peel destroyed a ton of delicious flavor. Thankfully I was alone when I made them, so I hid the evidence of my failure (in my stomach) before my beautiful partner got home, managing to dodge another completely ruined evening. I don’t believe Chelsea when she says sweet potatoes are her favorite vegetable, and I said as much in the email I sent to her, along with a warning about giving such dangerous advice to her vulnerable fans. I haven’t heard back yet, but I will update this blog post when she responds.
I recommend something like 325 with a slightly longer cook time, while still checking every 15 minutes to flip the potatoes on the sheet pan for even cooking.
Here are the recipes in the best order to make them, for those who get overwhelmed with too much stuff going on in the kitchen. Even for someone like me -- a big whiny baby according to my beloved partner -- this is a very easy to multi-task meal.
Easy Roasted Sweet Potatoes!
Ingredients:
3 large garnet or jewel sweet potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
r½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Very generous serving of salt and pepper
Because steak is so expensive I like to go crazy with the sweet potatoes. Even with our food stamps my lovely partner and I can’t justify buying a full steak for each of us, so we split the steak and load up on tasty sides to supplement.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Chop sweet potatoes into roughly similar ½ inch bites, leaving the peel on as I already mentioned.
Mix dry seasonings together in a small bowl. If you like spicy foods, as my partner does, definitely don’t skimp on the cayenne pepper. It adds a lot of kick. But if you’re like me, and have a real sensitivity to spice, beware this will make the sweet potatoes almost inedible.
Place sweet potatoes in a large bowl then pour olive oil and seasonings in. Toss until evenly coated.
Arrange the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet (life-saving life hack: cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil to prevent sticking and help with clean-up) and cook for 40-45 minutes, flipping every fifteen minutes for even cooking. If you like a little extra crisp you can turn the oven up to 375-400 for the final section of cooking.
When the sweet potatoes are almost done you can start on the steak.
Easy Steak!
Ingredients:
1 pound well-marbled ribeye
Very generous serving of salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter (room temperature)
Pat the steak dry and season both sides liberally with salt and pepper.
Cook on medium high-heat in a stainless steel pan for 3 minutes on each side for a delicious rare-to-medium-rare steak. This is how my wonderful partner loves her steak. She can even eat it seared.
Let rest for 10 minutes. While the steak is resting is a perfect time to prepare the asparagus, which I will tell you how to make very soon.
For added deliciousness spread butter over your rested steak.
Easy Asparagus!
Ingredients:
1 bundle fresh asparagus
Very generous serving of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 wedge of lemon (optional)
Heat a non-stick pan to medium heat and pour in the oil.
Throw the asparagus in the pan with the salt, pepper, and squeeze of lemon.
Saute to your preferred softness. I like a lot of snap to my asparagus so I don’t cook them long at all. It’s easy to overdo it, so I like to pull them off the heat just before it looks like they’re done. Unless you like it soggy. Again, I will not judge you.
And that’s it!
One of the best meals you will ever eat, and it’s so simple you can’t possibly mess it up.
