Wednesdays used to be our Guest Blogger Series day; but, there’s just so many new and wonderful Paleo and real-food bloggers out there that we’ve expanded our series. We hope you enjoy the new view points and unique content; if so, we encourage you to show these guest bloggers your support by visiting their blog and social media links at the end of this post!
Today, Sylvie of The Simple Paleo Life shares a classic recipe of her Argentine heritage: Steak with Chimichurri! We met Sylvie at Paleo FX where we hugged! Go visit her blog where she documents how she is living a paleo lifestyle in Los Angeles with her at home husband (hey, we think that’s groovy too!) and adorable family!
♥♥♥
I grew up in Argentina and in the greater Washington DC area, not far from Matt and Stacy. My mom always made it a point to remind us that we were not only bilingual but also bicultural. She was right. The irony about this recipe and my Argentine heritage is that I was a vegetarian for most of the years I lived there (7 out of 10). Sacrilege, I know.
Long before I went paleo or understood the differences of grass fed vs grain fed beef explained beautifully by Chris Kresser here, I knew I loved steak in Argentina much more than I did in the US. This is in part because beef in Argentina was always grass fed and here, well, not unless you’re actively seeking it out. My fellow Argies would also argue it has a lot to do with the talent of the chef. I agree but I have to add…
It’s all about the chimichurri….
No seriously, forget the steak, it’s all about the sauce (chimichurri). We have steak as a luxury nowadays since feeding a paleo family of five is a numbers game. But you can use this chimichurri recipe with anything! On your chicken, on your tacos, on your salad! It keeps nicely in the fridge and actually tastes better after its had a chance to sit in the fridge for a day.
There are many iterations of this sauce and pre-paleo I used to make it with some neutral (read: tastes-like-nothing) seed oils.
“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better”.
-Maya Angelou
So, here goes:
Argentinian Steak with Chimichurri
Ingredients:
For chimichurri:
- 1/2 cup EVOO
- 1/2 cup (approx) of chopped fresh parsley
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1/2 Tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp of pepper
- the juice of half a lemon
- 4-6 leaves of chopped fresh basil (optional)
- 1/8 tsp cayenne (optional, omit for AIP)
For steak:
- 2 steaks (or any cut of meat, really!)
- 1/2 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- salt to taste
Directions:
- Take steak out (ideally it should be out of the fridge 30 min to an hour before cooking)
- Roughly cut 1/2 onion and pulse in food processor until chopped. Set aside in pan.
- Peel 6 cloves of garlic (4 for chimichurri, 2 for steak) and pulse in food processor until finely chopped. Remove 1/3 of garlic (it’s not an exact science- eyeball it!) and place in pan with onion.
- Lightly brown the onion and garlic in pan with your fat of choice. I used Kerrygold grass-fed butter because I didn’t want the flavor of bacon fat or coconut oil to compete with the chimichurri.
- Back in the food processor with the garlic still in there, add the basil leaves and parsley and pulse till finely chopped.
- Scoop the mixture out into a bowl and add the cayenne, salt, pepper, lemon juice. Mix while stirring in the olive oil.
- Cover and set in fridge until serving time. I swear it gets better by the day in the fridge so feel free to double or triple the recipe!
On to the steak!
- Our grill recently broke and that is by far my favorite way to cook meat, so for now, until we replace it, we’re back to the pan!
- Generously salt and pepper the steak to taste.
- Heat the skillet to medium/high. Sear steak 2-3 minutes on each side.
- Then turn down heat to medium, add the browned onion and garlic, cover and cook for about 10 minutes (depending on thickness) or until temperature is 140 degrees for a medium steak.
- Serve with chimichurri and your choice of sides and enjoy!
Thank you Matt and Stacy for sharing with your readers!
About The Simple Paleo Life: Sylvie is a celebrity personal assistant and mom of 3 by day, paleo enthusiast and blogger by night. She and SAHD hubby, Eric, each lost over 60 lbs with paleo and continue to improve their family’s health with food and lifestyle tweaks. Sign up for their newsletter at www.thesimplepaleolife.com and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
