Meat and taters

As I have mentioned, one of my challenges is to make somewhat healthy, interesting food that my kids will not only eat, but enjoy. My kids are 17 and 14 now, and have developed some pretty adventurous palates, which works out nicely for all of us. I was never the kind of parent that would make a separate meal for a fussy eater. They tried what was put on the dinner table. When they were younger I would keep it pretty simple. The taste palate is a work in progress, though. It matures with you. So, right now, if you can't get your kids to try something, don't lose hope. Keep at it over time. Both of my kids began by drowning everything in "keppige and dressup" (ketchup and ranch dressing) as Will used to say. Now, they are pulling out the Sriracha sauce, or asking for more interesting spices and ingredients.

I'm on a pretty tight budget, so usually, life is a series of ways to cook chicken, but there has to be some variety. The other night, I brought home a London Broil. I usually marinate them, but I didn't have time, and was looking for something different, so I used Trader Joe's South African Smoke Seasoning Blend Grinder. It's a mix of smoked paprika flakes, sea salt, garlic and basil, and has the most wonderful smoky aroma and flavor. I just rubbed the meat with a little oil and ground on a good coating of spice, then grilled over medium heat on my outdoor grill. My kids tend to like meat cooked more toward the medium/medium well range, whereas I just really need to bop the cow on the head and stick a fork in. I have found, though, if the meat is flavorful enough, I can eat it a little better done. I cooked it to 130 internally and then let it sit. Oh, if you don't own an instant read meat thermometer, whether analog or digital, GO BUY ONE NOW. Ok, are you back? Good.

As for some sides, well, a girl can't eat whole grains every night, so I felt like some good ol' taters with the meat. I took red skin potatoes and sliced them into rounds. I sliced a small yellow onion, and sliced (not minced or chopped) some whole garlic cloves. This is where I use a blend of olive and vegetable oils in the pan. Get it medium hot, add the spuds first and let them start to cook a bit before you throw in the onions and garlic. I just let it go for about 20 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to turn the potatoes and let them start to brown. I finished with salt, pepper and a little chopped parsley.

The vegetable was sauteed spinach. I had a half of a red pepper in the crisper, so I diced that and added it to the spinach. This I cooked very quickly with some extra virgin oil (no high heat) and some granulated garlic and salt and pepper. (I love garlic, can you tell?)

 Again, you can sub another cut of beef, or use pork tenderloin, or chicken. I just want you to start to get the idea of how easy it can be to put something this nice together whenever you want. Once again, I am having technical issues with uploading pictures to the actual blog, so I'm going to put it on the Food Happens facebook page.