Happy Halloween and Blogher Month in Review

Halloween Photo from Joomlablog.

It's Halloween, the day that kids love and elementary school teachers dread. My school has a Halloween parade in the morning right when the kids come to school, so it's relatively painless. Still, it's safe to say that Halloween isn't my favorite holiday. I'm not a total Halloween scrooge though. Here's a link to something fun for Halloween, sent to me by my young-at-heart friend Alanna.

Most of my blog readers know I also write for Blogher, a site for women bloggers. (Men are welcome too; it's just that the writers are women.) As a Food and Drink contributing editor, I have to keep up with as many food blogs as I can (It's tough work, but someone's got to do it!) I write eight pieces a month for Blogher, so I've decided on the last day of each month, I'll give Kalyn's Kitchen readers my Blogher month in review so you can see what I've been writing about. If you're a food blogger, you might even find that I've mentioned you. Here's what I talked about in October:

It was fun to write about the success of The Green Blog Project.

Of couse I had to announce that Cilantro was Voted Favorite Herb for the one-year anniversary of Weekend Herb Blogging. (Last time I checked, this post had 21 comments, so obviously there was some interest.)

I was Fishing for Compliments with a collection of great salmon recipes.

My next blogher post was about World Bread Day, and featured links to a few of the great bread recipes I spotted.

Next I insisted Soup is Not Boring, and a lot of people agreed. There's a collection of yummy looking soup recipes here.

My next post spotlighted Diwali Celebrations, particularly lighting the candles and the special foods that are served for this Hindu Festival.

Not strictly food-related, but found on a food blog, I linked to a four-part series on Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Hormone Replacement Therapy. Read this if you're a woman over 40!

Last, but absolutely not least, my post called Beyond Jack-O-Lanterns shared a collection of great recipes using pumpkin, just in time for Halloween.

There are some other great food writers at Blogher besides me. You can check out Blogher Food and Drink if you want to see what they've been writing about.

It's only Tuesday and I've already gotten four entries for Weekend Herb Blogging, the weekend event that's not just for the weekend. Follow this link to Who's Hosting Weekend Herb Blogging or check the Rules for Weekend Herb Blogging for more information if you'd like to participate.

Finally, thanks to my incredibly generous and talented brother for the delightful new blog header, with all those colorful beans that are just dying to be made into a cold-weather soup, and a new tagline and icon too. (Isn't my brother just the greatest?)

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Grilled Spicy Tuna From the Recipe Archives

I still had a few recipes hanging around in my recipe archives that didn't have a photo, from the days before I entered the digital camera age. Now that I have my new camera there's an entire new set of photos from the time before I entered the improved-photos-SLR-Digital-Camera age, but I guess those will have to wait until I get all the photo-less recipes taken care of!

This recipe for Grilled Spicy Tuna was something I created in memory of Spicy Tuna Rolls, which have long been one of my favorite sushi dishes. Now that I'm officially on phase three of The South Beach Diet, sushi is something I'll eat once in a while, and it's my very favorite food. But if you're still tryin to lose weight, this grilled tuna is a better choice. I ate this last night, after working all day around home on various bloggy projects, and it tasted great with a salad with Cardini's Caesar, one of my favorite salad dressings. If you're in the northern hemisphere, grilling season won't last too much longer, so give this a try if you like tuna.

I used frozen Ahi tuna steaks from Costco, a great source for frozen fish if you aren't lucky enough to live where fresh fish is easy to obtain. If you can't find tuna, I think this would taste great on mahi mahi, swordfish, or halibut.

Grilled Spicy Tuna
(Recipe created by Kalyn. This made enough marinade for 2-4 pieces of tuna)

thick cut pieces of tuna, one per person
Marinade:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. fish rub or seafood seasoning
(I used Pride of Szeged Fish Rub. Trader Joe's also makes a good seafood seasoning. See note below if you don't have seafood seasoning in your spice collection.)
1 tsp. hot pepper flakes (like the kind you sprinkle on pizza, or use your favorite hot sauce)

Combine marinade ingredients. Put tuna in zip loc bag and pour marinade over. Marinate in refrigerator 1-3 hours. (As a general rule, don't marinate fish too long or the acidy ingredient in the marinade starts to "cook" the fish.)

To cook, oil your grill with a piece of paper towel dipped in olive oil, then preheat charcoal or gas grill to high. (You can only hold your hand there about 2 seconds when the grill is high.) Drain marinade and grill fish 4-6 minutes on each side. (Use this as a guide: 4 minutes per side for medium rare, 5 minutes per side for medium, six minutes per side for well done.) If you want those lovely grill marks, be sure grill is very hot, lay tuna diagonally on the grill, wait three minutes, rotate, wait three minutes and cook less time on the other side.

Note: For those who don't have seafood seasoning, the Pride of Szeged Fish Rub contains paprika, pepper, salt, lemon juice, and spices. Trader Joe's Seafood Grill and Broil has brown mustard seeds, lemon peel, black pepper, onion, lemon, thyme, chile pepper, celery seeds, bay leaves, basil, fennel, oregano, and red pepper. Choose the ingredients you like and make your own spice rub for fish.

(Thanks to Rick Rodgers, who I met when I attended the Kingsford Barbecue class for the tip about oiling the grill with a paper towel dipped in olive oil before cooking fish. Watch for his book, Kingsford Complete Grilling Cookbook, coming out in early 2007.)

This is a perfect dish for any phase of the South Beach Diet. For phase one, serve with Mary's Perfect Salad or or any green salad with a South Beach Friendly dressing. For phase two or three you could add 100% whole wheat bread, Lake Powell Spicy Rice, or Curried Rice and Red Lentils.

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Making the Recipe Archives More Useful

This food blogger life is pretty good. I've been off traveling again, getting a chance to hang out with one of my favorite foodie friends, meeting all kinds of wonderful people, and learning more than I ever imagined I didn't know about grilling by attending a class sponsored by Kingsford Charcoal.

More about all that later though. Right now, I have some exciting news about the Kalyn's Kitchen Recipe Archives.

I know that lots of people who read my blog aren't South Beach Dieters. But I'm guessing that a large percentage of the people who come here regularly are looking for support in following South Beach. Since the diet was so successful for me, and I've raved about why I love it so much, I really like to think my site might be helpful to other people who are trying to change the way they eat. With that in mind, for a while now I've been contemplating how to help identify recipes for people who are on phase one.

Everyone can figure out that phase one is the most challenging on South Beach. (It's also the most fun, when the pounds start dropping off, but you have to experience that yourself to believe me.) I had considered adding a phase one section to the recipe archives, but yesterday I had a flash of inspiration that I think you might like better.

I've decided to start adding a notation after each recipe listing on the archives pages to indicate my opinion about the particular phase of the diet where that recipe fits. I think this is a better way to do it than having separate sections, because when someone looks for a recipe, I'm guessing you're thinking more about what would be good to eat than you are about what phase of the diet you're following. At least I hope that's true.

Having the phase listed after each recipe title will help you find what you want to be eating, and choose something that's appropriate for your diet phase if you're a South Beacher. For people who aren't dieting, the notations will be easy enough to ignore.

So far I've only done the Easy South Beach Recipes section of the archives, but take a look and let me know if you like it. I'll try to get the other sections done as quickly as I can.

P.S. I'm not going to try to list phases for the South Beach Recipes of the Week for two reasons. First, even though other food bloggers seem to love having their recipes spotlighted, I feel like it's a bit presumptous of me to add a phase recommendation for recipes that aren't mine. Second, I don't think the labeling system will work well for those posts, where each post has four or more recipes, which might all be different phases. If you ever have a question about one of those recipes, leave it in a comment on that page or feel free to e-mail me (kalynskitchen AT comcast DOT net) telling me the title of the post and recipe and I'll be glad to share my opinion about what phase it would fit.

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Friday Food Porn: Dinner at the Oyster Bar and Another Guest Photographer!

Friday nights I like to tease all my blog readers with photos of yummy looking, (often not South Beach Diet approved) food that I "may or may not have eaten." These photos are from last Friday, when I had dinner at The Market Street Oyster Bar in Salt Lake City, with friends Mary, Ken, and Diane, graciously hosted by Mary's father, Nick.

I've written about Nick before, since he was one of the first readers to send me a recipe for the blog, and Nick's Chipotle Grilled Shrimp with Black Bean Salsa was one of the first recipes where I took photos. If you click on that recipe, you see I've learned a bit about photographing food since then, but it's definitely a great recipe, one you should try if you have a grill.

This was a lovely meal, with a lot of delicious food, good friends and good conversation. Be sure to read to the end to see the photo my second guest photographer contributed this week. (All these photos are with my old camera, and since it's a very dark restaurant I had to use a flash. Still, even without the new camera quality, I think you can tell this was good food.)

An appetizer of fried shrimp, very tasty, with a spicy cocktail sauce to dip the shrimp in.

Not a great photo, but a delicious dish of crab stuffed mushrooms which we all shared.

The famous Market Street onion rings, which I did (barely) manage to restrain myself from eating.

Washed out by the flash and not very colorful, but the salad was crisp and tasty with blue cheese dressing.

Some opted for the famous Market Street Clam Chowder (which I actually have the recipe for somewhere) and I didn't notice until I got home that it needed a little food styling to wipe off the spills. I've had this chowder many times and I'm sure it still tasted wonderful.

I ordered Fresh Atlantic Char, served with herb butter and butternut squash. This was the first time I had tasted Char, and it was excellent.

Diane chose Halibut Oscar, which was halibut topped with crab, asparagus, and bernaise sauce.

Another photo which could have been better, but Ken graciously held his plate across the table for me to photograph, and he gave the seafood ravioli a good review.

Nick had a dozen blue-point oysters, the dish the restaurant is most famous for.

Mary had Tuna which she thought was great, served with a slightly sweet sauce and the butternut squash.

Mary is also the guest photographer, sharing this picture of stuffed pumpkin she made last October when we both bought our Casio cameras together. Thanks again to Nick for a great dinner and to Mary for organizing a lovely evening with good friends.

If you're wondering about Weekend Herb Blogging, it's being hosted by Fiber of 28 Cooks this week. If you want to enter, send your link to CLBritto AT LancasterGeneral DOT org. Be sure to include a link to her and the words Weekend Herb Blogging. If you don't know what Weekend Herb Blogging is all about, you might want to read the Rules for Weekend Herb Blogging.

You can also check out Who's Hosting Weekend Herb Blogging from the WHB section in the right sidebar. If you're interested in getting on the list to host, send an e-mail to kalynskitchen AT comcast DOT net. (It must not be that bad; we've already had one past host sign on to do it again!)

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Chicken Barley Soup Recipe

It's getting cold in Utah, and I'm in the mood for soup. This is a very, very good soup recipe, and I decided to post it here, despite the fact that I stumbled on a very similar recipe using leftover turkey in my recipe archives, which I'd forgotten about when I was making this soup. I've also got a recipe for Mushroom Barley Soup with Ham and Leeks that's similar too. It's not that surprising, because when you're not eating potatoes, and you want to make soup, barley is a natural. If you're following the South Beach Diet, barley is perfect for phase two or three.

I simmered four boneless chicken breasts in water with Better Than Bouillon chicken base to get the cooked chicken to make the soup. You can use plain old chicken bouillon cubes added to water to cook the chicken if that's all you have, and leftover chicken would be great for this. If your soups sometimes don't have as much flavor as you'd like, I recommend the Better Than Bouillon products. They're available at many grocery stores, but I'm including the link above for anyone who can't find it where they live.

Don't be tempted to increase the amount of barley. If you haven't cooked with barley that much, you'll be surprised how much it increases. Barley has a delightfully nutty flavor that I think combines perfectly with chicken.

Chicken Barley Soup Recipe
(about 6-8 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)

8 cups chicken stock, homemade or canned
1 quart water
1 generous T Better Than Bouillon vegetable soup base (optional, but recommended for best flavor, other types of veggie stock cubes can be used)
1 tsp. dried thyme (or use frozen thyme leaves if you have them)
1 tsp. poultry seasoning (Penzey's recommended)
1 T dried parsley
1 onion, chopped small
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 cup sliced or diced carrots (or more if you really like carrots)
1/2 cup pearl barley
fresh ground black pepper to taste, salt if desired

In large stock pot, combine chicken stock, water, vegetable soup base, dried thyme, poultry seasoning, and dried parsley. Simmer 15 minutes while you chop veggies and chicken.

After 15 minutes, add chopped onion, chopped celery, diced cooked chicken, sliced carrots, and barley. Simmer 45 minutes to one hour over very low heat, until barley is done but still a bit chewy. (I like the barley slightly underdone compared to a lot of people, but cook until it seems done to your taste.) You may want to add a cup or so of water if the soup reduces too much.

Season with fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste, and serve hot. (Be sure to taste before adding salt if using canned chicken stock, which can be rather salty.)

This soup is perfect for phase two or three of the South Beach Diet. You could make the same soup with brown rice, or wild rice, which would still be great for South Beach. I would eat the soup for my entire meal for phase two, but for phase three you could add some 100% whole wheat bread.

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Thai Chicken Soup Recipe

First, my appreciation to all the cilantro-hating readers who have allowed me to indulge myself for an entire month of cilantro worship and have kept reading my blog and barely complained about all the cilantro! I'm ending my month with this recipe for Thai Chicken Soup, similar to a soup that might be called Tom Ka Gai or Dom Yam Gai at your favorite Thai restaurant. (And if anyone like Ed or Pim knows the difference between those two types of soups, I'd love to know.)

This soup has cilantro added at the very end, but let me say if you're not a cilantro fan, make this soup anyway, and leave out the cilantro. There are so many great flavors going on here that you won't miss out at all. Just do not miss out on this soup!

The recipe I used was from Eat This Book, Cooking with Global Fresh Flavors, and though I never really watched Tyler Florence on the Food Network, I love this cookbook. The other recipe I've posted from it was Pan Roasted Chicken with Onions, Mushrooms, and Rosemary, and it was also a wow. Interestingly, when I looked in one of my other favorite cookbooks, The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman I found a recipe that was almost identical to this one.

One change I made in the recipe directions was to simmer the lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, Thai chiles, and garlic in the chicken stock for a bit, and then remove them. I recommend that step, even if it makes the soup slightly less authentic, especially if you're cooking for someone who's not familiar with Thai food and won't know that those flavorings aren't meant to be eaten.

The two uniquely Thai flavorings here are lemongrass, also used in Vietnamese cuisine, and Kaffir Lime leaves. Lemongrass is a perennial herb, called Takrai in Thailand. Mostly the inner white part of the stalks is used for flavoring. It can be frozen, and is also sold dried or powdered. Where I live it's hard to find fresh, but when I was visiting St. Louis recently I found some sliced, bottled lemongrass that worked well for this recipe. Kaffir lime leaves are the leaves of a Southeast Asian citrus plant, and they are never eaten, but used to flavor broth as I've done here. I'm lucky enough to have a stepsister in California who sends me these from her tree. If you're not familiar with Thai ingredients yourself, this page about Thai ingredients might be helpful.

(If all these Thai ingredients are a bit intimidating to you, you might want to visit an Asian market and try some of the packets of seasoning used to make soup like this. Of course, they aren't as good as making the soup fresh, but if you choose a brand that's imported from Asia, often they're quite good. This brand is one I've used with good results.)

Thai Chicken Soup Recipe
(4 main course servings, recipe only slightly adapted from Eat This Book, Cooking with Global Fresh Flavors by Tyler Florence)

1 quart chicken stock, homemade or canned
1 lemongrass stalk, white part, crushed slightly or 1 tsp. bottled sliced lemongrass
3 kaffir lime leaves
(I don't use them often, so I keep them in the freezer.)
several slices ginger root
2 small fresh Thai chiles, halved lengthwise
(I keep these in the freezer too.)
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 can (14.5 oz.) coconut milk
(I used Thai Kitchen brand light coconut milk)
1 T Thai fish sauce (recipe called for 2 T)
(Thai fish sauce is nam pla)
1 1/2 tsp. sugar or Splenda
1 can mushrooms (recipe called for straw mushrooms)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (4 cooked chicken breasts)
juice of 4 limes
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh cilantro to garnish if desired (or more)

In large soup pot, bring chicken stock to a simmer over medium heat. Add lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger slices, Thai chiles, and smashed garlic cloves. Simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes, then strain stock to remove these inedible flavorings.

Turn heat to low, then stir in coconut milk, fish sauce, sugar or Splenda, mushrooms, shredded chicken, lime juice, and cracked pepper. Simmer about 5 minutes without boiling to blend flavors and heat chicken through. Ladle soup into individual bowls and sprinkle with cilantro if desired.

This soup is perfect for any phase of The South Beach Diet, especially if you used light coconut milk. If you wanted the soup as part of an Asian meal, it would pair well with Thai Barbecue Chicken with Cilantro or Chicken Lettuce Wraps by Rand. If you add rice for phase 2 or 3, use Uncle Ben's Converted Rice.

Of course, you're all smart enough to figure out that this is my post for Weekend Herb Blogging, which is being hosted by Fiber of 28 Cooks this week. If you want to enter, send your link to CLBritto AT LancasterGeneral DOT org. Be sure to include a link to her and the words Weekend Herb Blogging.

If you don't know what Weekend Herb Blogging is all about, you might want to read the Rules for Weekend Herb Blogging. You can also check out Who's Hosting Weekend Herb Blogging from the WHB section in the right sidebar. If you're interested in getting on the list to host, send an e-mail to kalynskitchen AT comcast DOT net. (It must not be that bad; we've already had one past host sign on to do it again!)

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Cuban Flank Steak Recipe

In my previous life, before I became a food blogger and a South Beach Dieter, I used to be president of my local teacher's association, aka the teacher's union. This was a demanding high-pressure job that I sometimes loved, sometimes hated, but one thing I did enjoy about the job was the chance to travel. I went to trainings all over the U.S., and it was in Miami Beach that I had my first experience with Cuban food.

The marinade for this flank steak is something I came up with, and it's probably not all that authentically Cuban; the Cuban influence is the idea of marinating meat in lime juice, cumin and garlic. This was a combination of ingredients that really tasted great to me. When I posted South Beach Recipes of the Week this week, I focused on beef recipes, and mentioned that I don't eat a lot of beef. That's true, but as you can see by the photo, when I do eat beef, I like it pretty rare. If that's not your preference, you can cook this longer than I did, and the marinating will keep it moist while it grills.

This is how the flank steak will look when you take it off the grill. Cover it with some foil and let it rest about 5 minutes before you slice it across the grain. Don't skip the resting stage, it's important for keeping the meat juicy.

Flank steak like this is best cooked right before you eat it. If you're only cooking for one or two people, Mark Bittman has a great tip in his excellent book How to Cook Anything. He suggests marinating the whole flank steak, but cutting it in half before cooking. Keep the second half marinating in the refrigerator and cook it the next day to use on salad or in a stir-fry. (More about this on page 427 if you have the book. This is a great resource book for anyone who's learning to cook.)

Cuban Flank Steak
(4-6 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)

1 large piece of flank steak, 2-3 pounds
Marinade:
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp. ground chipotle chile powder, I use Penzeys
(or use your favorite hot sauce)
2 tsp. lime zest (optional)

Combine marinade ingredients. Put flank steak into a ziploc bag and pour marinade in, seal bag, and marinate all day in refrigerator. (You can marinate up to 24 hours if desired.)

Take meat out of refrigerator and let it come to room temperature before grilling. Preheat gas or charcoal barbecue grill to medium high (you can only keep your hand there for a few seconds.)

Grill meat to desired doneness, approximately 4-5 minutes per side for rare to medium rare or 6-7 minutes for medium to medium-well. Time will depend on the thickness of your flank steak, the best way to judge the doneness is to use an instant-read meat thermometer. (The meat in the photo was cooked about 5 minutes per side, but it was quite a thick cut.)

Remove meat from grill and let rest about 5 minutes. (You can cover with foil to keep it warm if needed.) Slice across the grain and serve warm.

Because flank steak is such a lean cut, this is perfect for any phase of the South Beach Diet. I served mine with Black Beans with Cilantro and a green salad with Mary's Perfect Salad Dressing. For phase two or three, you could serve something like Lake Powell Spicy Rice along with the beans.

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Easy South Beach Recipes Black Beans with Cilantro

Something very interesting has happened since I added a category to my recipe archives for Easy South Beach Recipes, which I'm defining as recipes that have only 5 or 6 ingredients. Not only has that become the most used category in the recipe archives, (when I check my blog stats it's consistently number one), but I'm finding more and more "easy" recipes that I'd like to try.

I can't tell you where I first saw this recipe, but it was in a spot where I jotted it down in the little notebook I carry around to write down ideas for the blog, maybe at the hairdresser's or a friend's house? But when I decided I would use cilantro all this month I remembered the recipe and tried it. Simply fantastic and so simple to make. The dried cilantro that I used to season the beans while they cook isn't in any way a substitute for fresh cilantro, but in something like this that's going to be cooked for a long time, it does add a lot of flavor. I get my dried cilantro from Penzeys, but if you don't have dried cilantro, I'd suggest oregano as a substitute.

Some people don't realize that beans are allowed even for phase one on the South Beach Diet, and black beans are one of my favorites. For recipes like this that start with dried beans, it's important to soak them, and it's also important to use reasonably fresh beans. I once had some beans that had been sitting on my shelf for over a year, and when I cooked them they were completely hard even after cooking for a long, long time. If your beans are old, throw them out and get some new ones.

I cooked my beans in a Crockpot slow cooker, a very inexpensive little cooking gadget that lets you cook things all day when you're away. I like using the Crockpot, and beans is one of the perfect things for cooking this way. If you don't have a Crockpot, you can easily cook these beans in a pot on the stove.

Black Beans with Cilantro
(a Crockpot recipe, about 8 side dish servings)

4 cups dried black bean
(beans must be soaked overnight)
6 cups chicken stock
(either homemade or canned)
2 T dried cilantro
1 T garlic powder
(or use 2 T chopped fresh garlic)
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
(measure after chopping)

The night before you plan to cook this, rinse beans and pick out broken pieces. Place beans in a large pot, cover with cold water by several inches, and soak overnight.

The next morning, drain beans, then place beans, chicken stock, dried cilantro, and garlic powder or fresh chopped garlic in Crockpot slow cooker. Cook all day on low, 8-10 hours. (If you don't have a Crockpot, combine ingredient in a large, heavy pan and simmer on low for about 2 hours.)

Wash fresh cilantro and dry well. (I used a salad spinner.) Chop enough cilantro to measure one cup. When beans are well softened, turn off Crockpot and stir in fresh cilantro. Serve immediately, garnished with additional chopped cilantro if desired.

Beans cooked like this make a perfect side dish for any phase of the South Beach Diet. I served my beans with Cuban Flank Steak. This would also taste great with Grilled Halibut with Cumin and Lime, Sauteed Scallops with Garlic, or Curried Chicken on the Grill with Cilantro Chutney.

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South Beach Recipes of the Week #15: Beef

Hooray, it's Sunday, and on Sundays I like to spotlight low glycemic index recipes I find on other food blogs. If you don't know what I mean by the glycemic index, it's what the South Beach Diet is based on. This week I'm going to share some great recipes for beef.

I don't actually eat a lot of beef, but when it's a fairly lean cut, beef is a great choice for the South Beach Diet. When I consulted my handy South Beach Diet Good Fats, Good Carbs Guide to be sure, I found that only the very fattiest cuts of beef are rated "avoid" and most beef is rated "good" or "limited." I recommend this little inexpensive book if you're doing South Beach and want a handy reference about what to eat.

Photo by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast

I've had this recipe for Flank Steak with Vinaigrette Marinade saved for months before I tried it, and it's perfect for the South Beach Diet, not surprisingly, since Ruth of Once Upon a Feast is also a South Beacher. If you're doing phase one I might recommend replacing the honey with Splenda, but when you're using honey in a marinade like this, very little of the honey is actually eaten, so it's not crucial.

Photo by Lis of La Mia Cucina

It's flank steak again for this recipe which Lis of La Mia Cucina calls Another Spin on Stuffed Flank Steak. Flank steak is stuffed with roasted red pepper, spinach and garlic, and then braised in tomato sauce, and everything here is completely South Beach Diet approved!

Photo by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once

Another lean cut of meat is skirt steak (also called hanger steak) which Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once uses in this Sichuan Pepper Steak that I thought looked fantastic. You could make this with a thin flank steak if you can't find the skirt or hanger steak.

Photo by Gabriella from My Life as a Reluctant Housewife

This last beef recipe uses rib eye steak, which the South Beach Guide rates as "limited." There's also a bit of butter in the recipe for Steak with Smoked Paprika by Gabriella from My Life as a Reluctant Housewife, but I'm guessing the smoked paprika tastes fantastic on the steak and I'd enjoy this for a special occasion or once-in-a-while treat.

If you're looking for Weekend Herb Blogging, the host is Pat from Up a Creek Without a PatL. You have until 3:00 on Sunday (MST zone) to send your permalink to pat DOT langille AT gmail DOT com. Don't forget to include a link to Pat and the words Weekend Herb Blogging somewhere in the post. You can see the Rules for Weekend Herb Blogging if you're not sure what it's all about.

(Don't forget there's now a permanent link to Who's Hosting Weekend Herb Blogging in the WHB section in my right sidebar so it's easy to keep track of who the host is each week.) If you'd like to take a turn being host, send me an e-mail at kalynskitchen AT comcast DOT net and I will add you to that list.