Broiled Flank Stank with Avocado + Parsley Chimichurri
Broiled Flank Stank with Avocado + Parsley Chimichurri
An incredibly easy flank steak preparation that boasts so many fresh flavors. You're weeknight dinner game has never been stronger.
Ingredients
- 1.5 to 2 pounds flank steak
- 1 TBSP ground cumin
- 1/2 TBSP smoked paprkia
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- For the Chimchurri:
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 cup flat leaf parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
- 1 firm avocado peeled, pitted, and diced (you don't want it too ripe or it will be mushy)
Directions
- Step 1 Pat steak dry. Combine cumin, smoked paprika, salt, and fresh ground pepper in a small mixing bowl and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Rub steak on both sides with the prepared spice mixture. Drizzle olive oil over steak and turn to coat.
- Step 2 Position an oven rack 5 to 6 inches from the broiler unit, and preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil or use a cast iron skillet. Place the pan on the oven rack, and preheat until hot, about 5 minutes.
- Step 3 Carefully remove the hot baking sheet or skillet from the oven, drizzle with olive oil and put the steak in the center and broil (without turning) until nicely browned and firm, around 6 to 8 minutes for medium-rare.
- Step 4 While the steak is cooking, prepare the chimichurri. Add oil, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, oregano, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, salt, and fresh ground pepper to a food processor and pulse until herbs are finely chopped. Add diced avocado to the food processor, pulse gently, until just combined and chunky. If you process it too much it will become mushy, so be careful during this step.
- Step 5 Let the steak rest for 10 minutes, then slice thinly against the grain. Serve with the chimichurri.
I can’t even tell you how much I’ve been craving steak lately. It’s like the one thing we didn’t stock up on and meat has been so overpriced right now that we haven’t prioritized it. But Marc picked up these flank steaks on our epic Trader Joe’s run last week (I won’t even tell you how much he spent!) and I was determined to make the best of them. I had every intention to grill these, but unfortunately Mother Nature didn’t cooperate. But since I had already built them in to my meal plan for Tuesday and didn’t want to change course, you can bet I was going to use them – I just had to get a little more creative.
I was going to sear them in the cast iron but Marc suggested I broil them and man, was he on to something! It’s rare that I cook steak to begin with (Marc is the meat master in our house), but I was up to the challenge. We’ve both been working like crazy through this quarantine but cooking is the thing I look forward to most at the end of the day; every day, but especially now. Even if it is at 8 or 9 pm when I finally have a chance to get to it!
Believe it or not, I don’t think I have ever cooked flank steak myself before, but if you can’t grill, broiling is definitely the way to go. Because there’s so little fat on this cut of steak, it begs for high heat and searing for a short amount of time. Leaving the inside a bit rare helps ensure more tenderness and flavor. You can either marinade it overnight or season it generously like I did right before. Then preheating the pan in the oven helps it get that sear. Essentially you’re getting the top sear form the broiler and bottom sear directly from the pan, which creates that incredible crust and seals in all the flavor. And because you can say it so quickly, it saves you a lot of time in meal prep. This recipe start to finish takes 20 minutes, TOPS. And only 30 if you serve with a side of my Warm Brussels Sprout Salad.
If you follow the blog closely, I hope you’ve noticed how much I’ve prioritized setting aside time to cook, post, and test new recipes. This week has been nuts on the work front, but I planned a whole detailed meal plan – making sure to use every last ingredient we have before it expires. And so far, I’ve really stuck to it. This is the weekly planner I bought and it’s great because it’s so large and visual and even has space to write a grocery list. Now I know why people swear by meal planning, it’s actually removed a lot of stress knowing ahead of time what I’m going to cook and that I already have all the ingredients for something (especially in the era of corona!). So where do I get most of my inspiration right now? Hands down it’s either foodgawker (seriously the best!) or recipes I see from other bloggers that I bookmark. Otherwise, I have a list a mile long of old recipes I’ve been saving in my gmail that I am finally getting around to making. This has definitely not been an easy 6 weeks, but one thing it has been is DELICIOUS!
