No Recipe--Flank Steak

No Recipe Flank Steak @livligahome

I am hot, it has been a long day and I wanted to do a dinner that didn't take much thought. I turned to an all time family favorite--marinated flank steak with asian-flavored noodles with french green beans.

Since I wasn't following a recipe in a book but from my memory, this is how I did it:

Flank Steak
Marinade for the flank steak
Ingredients~
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1 lbs flank steak

Instructions~
Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a ziplock and place the flank steak in it. Close the bag and let the flank steak marinade for at least 20 minutes. If you want to do this the night before, even better.

Then I took the flank steak out of the marinade and grilled it about 3-4 minutes on each side until cooked to medium rare. Marinade was discarded.

Serves 4. Serving size 4 oz @ 230 calories.

Japanese Noodles
Ingredients~
8 oz of whole wheat pasta, thin spaghetti-style
Cooking Spray, olive oil-flavored
1 tsp sesame oil
1/8 tsp ground ginger 
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced at angle
1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar

Instructions~
Boil the noodles per instructions on the box.
Heat a cast iron skillet. Spray with cooking oil. Add sesame oil. Add cooked noodles. Mix with oil. Sprinkle with ground ginger. Stir in all other ingredients. Mix and serve.

Serves 4. Serving size 1 cup @ 260 calories.

French Green Beans
Ingredients~
16 oz bag of French green beans (haricots verts)
1 cup Chicken broth
1 cup water
Lemon zest from one lemon

Instructions~
Pour the chicken broth and water in the bottom of a vegetable steamer. Bring to a boil. Place the French green beans in the steamer for 5 - 6 minutes. Remove from steamer promptly. Add zest and toss.

Serves 4. Serving size 1 cup @ 20 calories.

Total calories for meal @ 510.

The important part about no recipe meals is paying attention to the ingredients you use. It is always a good idea to measure to make sure you are aware of how much you are using of any one ingredient. The is particularly true of the oils we use. Those calories can quickly add up.

This is a quick and easy-to-assemble "no recipe" meal, good for just about any time of year.