Chrono diet day 2 - Monday

For breakfast today (and probably most days) we had the 2 slices of Milton Whole Grain Plus bread with butter and cheese and we broil it – same as yesterday.

And I guess I should tell you that most times I see a recipe, I make some little changes to it.  And today was no different.  For lunch I had the recipe for South American Flank Steak for the Sonoma Diet cookbook and I made a few changes.  Below is the recipe.  The items in ( ) are the original recipe.  For the record, this was “ok” but the flank steak from yesterday had a MUCH better flavor.

South American Flank Steak

1 1-pound beef flank steak

1 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro

1/3 cup orange juice

4 teaspoons passion fruit balsamic vinegar (red wine vinegar)

1 tablespoon garlic infused extra-virgin olive oil (regular EVOO)

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 ½  to 2 teaspoons finely chopped canned chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce*

¼ teaspoon rosemary and black olive sea salt (kosher salt)

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Trim fat from steak.  Score both sides of steak in a diamond pattern by making shallow cuts at 1-inch intervals.  Place steak in a self-sealing plastic bag set in a shallow dish.

In a blender combine cilantro, orange juice, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, cumin, coriander, chili peppers, salt and black pepper.  Cover and blend until smooth.  Pour orange juice mixture over steak.  Seal bag turn to coat steak.  Marinate for at least 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Drain steak, discarding marinade.  For a charcoal grill, place steak on the rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals.  Grill for 17-21 minutes or until medium doneness (160° F), turning steak once halfway through grilling.  (For a gas grill, preheat grill.  Reduce heat to medium.  Place steak on grill rack over heat.  Cover and grill as above.)

To serve, thinly slice steak across the grain.

Nutrition facts per serving:  (if you followed the original recipe and used it for 4 servings):  193 cal., 9 g total fat (3 g sat. fat), 47 mg chol., 126 mg sodium, 2 g cargo., 1 g fiber, 25 g pro.

*NOTE: Because hot chili peppers contain oils that can burn your skin and eyes, wear rubber or plastic gloves when working with them.  If your bare hands do touch the chili peppers, wash your hands well with soap and water.

We had ½ cup of brown rice each with our steak.

For dinner I have adapted a recipe from the Weight Watcher’s Best Darn Food Ever! Cookbook.  The recipe calls for buns, but since we can’t have bread in the evening we are omitting that part.  And, I promise I am going to start posting about trips – but I thought I would tell you which spices I picked up while traveling that I used in the recipe below.  And we LOVED this recipe.  Ron said I could put it on his short list anytime!

Smoky Pork BBQ on Buns (8 PP)

3 tablespoons packed Splenda (regular) brown sugar

2 teaspoons smoked Hungarian paprika that I picked up in Budapest last month (smoked paprika)

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin that I picked up in Morocco

¾ teaspoons alderwood smoked sea salt (regular salt)

¾ teaspoons black pepper

1 1 ½ pound lean pork tenderloin

1 tablespoon Tuscan infused olive oil (canola oil)

2/3 cup cider vinegar

1/3 cup water

¼ cup ketchup

2 tablespoons minced inion

1 garlic clove, minced

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (red pepper flakes - I would have used this but we are in Norway and I could not find any).  :(

6 whole wheat hamburger buns, split and toasted

Preheat oven to 450° F.  Spray medium roasting pan with nonstick spray.

Mix together 1 T of brown sugar, the paprika, chili powder, cumin, ½ t of salt, and ½ t of black pepper in cup.  Sprinkle spice mixture all over pork, pressing so it adheres.

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add pork and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.   

Transfer to prepared roasting pan.  Roast until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of meat registers 145° F for medium, about 15 minutes.  Transfer to cutting board and let stand 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine vinegar, water, ketchup, onion, remaining 2 T brown sugar, ¼ t salt, ¼ t black pepper, and the pepper flakes in small saucepan and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and cook until reduces to ¾ cup, about 15 minutes.

Slice pork across grain, divide pork, evenly among bottoms of buns (we did not use buns).  Drizzle with about ¼ cup of sauce.  Cover with tops of buns.  Serve remaining ½ cup sauce alongside. (Remember, we did not use buns)

Nutritional info if following recipe:  1 sandwich:  314 cal, 7 g total fat, 1 g Sat Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 74 mg Chol, 681 mg Sod, 35 g Carb, 11 g sugar, 4 g Fib, 28 g protein, 72 mg Calc.

To go along with this we ate our unlimited green salad with a homemade dressing of Blood Orange infused olive oil and Tangerine Balsamic vinegar.