Steak with Mediterranean Grilled Vegetables

Last week when I told the hubby that I wanted to branch out more in the food we were eating he said, "What?  Like steak?"  I realized that we really don't eat red meat anymore!  It wasn't a conscious decision .  I usually buy my chicken and fish in bulk at Costco but I rarely buy any red meat in large quantities.  I try to plan my meals based on what I have on hand so steak never comes to mind.  In fact, if I need meat from the regular grocery store I usually have to go back at the end of my trip because I've forgotten to stop in the meat department.

So I decided that this week we are having steak!  I had zucchini, eggplant and a bell pepper from the garden and I figured that grilled vegetables would go great with steak. 

I used this recipe for Mediterranean Grilled Vegetables.  Instead of the Kraft brand salad dressing I used a different brand that happened to be on sale.  For my vegetables I used zucchini, eggplant, bell pepper, red onion, and mushrooms.  I marinated them in a plastic bag (makes for easy clean up!) for about 30 minutes.  I grilled them on top of foil on a grill that was set around 350 degrees.

Confession time:  I forgot that I was running low on aluminum foil.  So I tried to squeeze my vegetables on a piece of foil that was too small.  What a bad idea!  Veggies spilled over the edge of the foil and through the grates.  I'm pretty sure that I lost half of my red onions.  But the rest tasted great so I guess it turned out alright in the end.

I marinated the steak for 30 minutes in a plastic bag (see below for recipe).  I usually try to buy rib-eye steaks because they seem to be tender and are usually a decent price.  My grocery store typically has rib-eyes off of the bone so if you buy the ones on the bone you may have to cook them a little longer.

 After I cooked the vegetables, I turned the grill on High and waited until it got to 400-450 degrees.  I like to cook steak over high heat for a short amount of time.  I did 2 minutes on each side and then a final 2 minutes on the first side (6 minutes total) and it ended up medium.  I usually let it rest off of the grill under foil for about 5 minutes before we eat.  Tonight I just let it rest naked.  I hate when I run out of things like foil!

 Steak Marinade

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 tbsp cracked black pepper
• 1/2-1 tbsp garlic powder 

Preparation

Mix together in a plastic bag.  Marinate steaks for 30-60 minutes in the refrigerator.  Dispose of marinade after cooking. This made enough to marinate 2 large rib-eye steaks but you can increase the recipe as needed.

Happy Cooking!

Jenny