Easy Weeknight Skillet Meal
Why is it that even as an adult I struggle to make myself try new foods? Isn’t that wierd? I’ve certainly gotten a lot better in my adult years than I was as a child but I’m still a bit reluctant to incorporate foods I “think” I don’t like. Foods I hadn’t necessarily ever tried before. I made great strides in this area of life upon learning about my gluten intolerance because I had to expand my food options. Additionally, in recent years I’ve tried to take a healthier approach to my eating and that has meant trying new foods.
Aren’t those colors gorgeous??
Peppers are one of those foods. I’ve tried slices of raw green bell peppers in the past and they’re not terrible but I had never overcome the hurdle of actually incorporating them into my cooking. I just “thought” I wouldn’t like the texture once they were cooked.
This weekend, while trying to meal plan for the week, I found this meal on Pinterest from Our Salty Kitchen. It’s what I will probably refer to as a Steak Skillet Meal on my ongoing list of meals worthy of repeating, however, the recipe actually calls it Whole 30 Steak Bites with Sweet Potato and Peppers. You can find the recipe here. I’ve added notes from my experience trying this recipe further down in the post.
I’m honestly not sure why I decided I wanted to try this recipe, given that it contains peppers, but I love “one pan” or skillet meals for week nights since they’re usually quick and easy. Darrell was intrigued when I asked if he’d be interested in trying this meal because he loves steak.
Since poultry isn’t an option in our protein wheelhouse, I have tried to make sure we aren’t eating the same fish or meat options over and over. I had surprisingly never cooked steak before this meal. I also had never cooked meat on the stove prior to recent months, no joke haha. (Amateur, don’t forget!!)
This meal was super easy and from start to finish took less than an hour even as a first time try for this recipe. I should mention though that Darrell helped me by peeling and dicing the sweet potato and I’m just slow in general when it comes to trying a new recipe.
Oh… and I cut up the cilantro and the forgot all about it… It was supposed to be the garnish for the meal once plated. Oops.
Here are my notes from trying this recipe:
Sweet Potatoes - We either cut them too small and cooked too long or just left them in the warm cozy covered bowl in microwave too long because they were a bit mushy and overcooked while the rest of the meal seemed to be just right.
Coconut Aminos - I had honestly never heard of coconut aminos before this recipe and had to look it up to learn more. While it wasn’t cheap (just under $10 for a bottle at Walmart), I have already noticed it listed in a few other recipes so I think it was worth the investment. I talk a little bit more about this ingredient further down in the post so don’t miss that part if this is new to you too!
Steak - As I had mentioned earlier in the post, I hadn’t cooked steak before this meal. I opted for the flat iron steak the author of the recipe suggests and was really pleased with the cut of meat and how it cooked up.
This meal could probably be prepared in less time on a week night by cutting the vegetables in the morning before work or if it is a Monday night meal, I could see myself more easily chopping ingredients the night before and storing them in the fridge for less prep time after a long day of work.
So all in all, this meal was pretty tasty! It was flavored just right. We will definitely be repeating this meal soon.
I will leave you with some insights about coconut aminos…
According to Eating Well, coconut aminos has 73 percent less sodium than soy sauce.
Great for those avoiding gluten and soy - although shop carefully because there are other “liquid aminos” products out there that contain soy.
You can learn more about coconut aminos on the Eating Well website.
Do you use coconut aminos? Is this meal something you think you’ll try? I’d love to hear from you.
