I haven’t posted anything in quite
a while. Mostly because we’re so busy these days preparing for Baby Blanco. I
can’t believe we’re already in the third trimester. Only ten weeks left until
we meet this little jumping bean. In the meantime, I’m trying hard to keep up
with a paleo-ish diet and be as consistent as possible in the gym.
I have to say, I feel like I was
super lucky for never having to experience any sort of morning sickness or
crazy food aversions. I read an article several months back from The 80/20 that explained how women who
ate a healthy diet prior to becoming pregnant were less likely to experience
morning sickness. Don’t be fooled, there was, and still is, plenty of
off-putting things people don’t warn you about while being pregnant. But
all-in-all, the goodness and excitement outweighs the bad and ugly parts.
One of the areas that I like, but
am cautious about for obvious reasons, is food cravings. While I want to go ham
on just about everything sugary and carb-tastic, I know the reality is it will
be much harder taking the weight off after pregnancy than it is putting it on
in the first place. So like my like pre-pregnancy lifestyle, I’m trying hard to
stick to 80/20 eating, though I’m sure it’s more like 70/30 Ha! In the first
trimester, I really wanted Chinese food. There was this hole in the wall place
not far from where my family and I lived in Jacksonville. I may have even
mentioned this place in a previous post (I seriously loved it). I would
literally gorge myself on as much lo mein, beef and broccoli, sweet and sour
chicken, egg drop soup, and whatever else looked appealing that day. All I can
do is shake my head now. But I was seriously craving this place for weeks.
Thankfully, I think I ate Chinese only once while visiting my in-laws. I barely
mentioned it being a craving and an hour later I had multiple containers of
Chinese food ready to be consumed. These days, I’m craving mostly tacos or some
variation. I can’t eat enough avocadoes or guacamole, so at least once a week
we have tacos or taco salads. Yesterday I had an idea to make a burrito bowl. I
don’t usually eat tortilla shells anyway, but I like everything else inside a
burrito, thus emerged my steak burrito bowl. Enjoy!
*Disclaimer – if you’re going for strict paleo, leave out
the rice, beans, cheese, and Greek yogurt.
Steak Burrito Bowl
Prep Time: 4-6+ hours (inactive)
Cook Time: 1 hour, divided
Serves: 4
Special Tools:
Grill
Rice Cooker
Small pot
Medium sauté pan
High speed blender or food processor
Small bowl
Ingredients:
Steak Marinade + Bean/Rice Seasoning:
1 + ½ tsp of chili powder
½ tsp of garlic powder
½ tsp of onion powder
½ tsp of cumin
¼ tsp of cayenne pepper
¼ tsp of sea salt
juice of one lime
Burrito Bowl Toppings:
1 lb of skirt steak (or you could use flank)
1 can organic black beans
½ cup uncooked white rice
1 medium yellow onion, sliced
1 medium red bell pepper, sliced
1 tomato, diced
1 avocado, diced
1 cup of sprinkle cheese
4-6 cups of lettuce
handful of roughly chopped cilantro
Cilantro-Avocado Cream:
1 avocado
juice of 1 lime
½ cup of chopped cilantro
¼ - ½ cup of full-fat Greek yogurt (I used Chobani brand.
Has the most fat and least amount of sugar of the other brands I looked at in
the store. You could potentially use coconut milk, though the flavor and
consistency would be less like sour cream).
Instructions:
1. In the small bowl, mix together all of the seasonings for
the marinade, except the lime juice.
2. Place the steak in a resealable plastic bag with the lime
juice. Add half of the seasoning mix to the bag and toss the sealed bag around
to coat all parts of the steak. Place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
3. About an hour before the steak comes out, place the beans
in a small pot. Add half of the remaining seasoning mixture to the pot. Cover
and let the beans cook on low for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
4. About 30 minutes before the steak comes out, add your
rice to the rice cooker. Wash it twice. Add ¾ cup of water, 1 tbsp of olive
oil, and the remainder of the seasoning mixture to the cooker. Put the lid on
and start it up. (Confession: I’ve never cooked rice on the stove before. I
have a rice cooker! If you don’t, look up how to cook it on the stove, because
I don’t know.)
5. About 20 minutes before the steak comes out, heat the
sauté pan on medium with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the onions and bell
pepper and let them cook down until very soft. I left mine on low once they
were tender and just let them continue to cook down. Add a tsp of water or so
if they look like they are drying out at any point.
6. Chop up the tomato, avocado, lettuce, and cilantro if you
haven’t already.
7. Make the cilantro-avocado dressing by placing all the
ingredients into a food processor or high speed blender. You’ll probably need
to scrape down the sides a few times. I was looking for a creamy consistency,
but if you want something more runny like a dressing, add more liquid, either
lime juice or water about a tsp at a time.
8. Heat your grill to medium-high heat. Cook steak for 5
minutes on each side or longer for your meat to be more cooked through. Take it
off the heat and LET IT REST for at least 5 minutes more. Then slice it into
bit size pieces.
At this point, everything should be done. You can plate your
burrito bowl however you’d like, but this is how I did it:
Lettuce, rice, beans, steak, onions and peppers, cheese,
tomato, avocado, cilantro-avocado cream, and a bit more cilantro.
