This recipe is I stole from Weight Watchers. I thought it looked amazing. I showed it to my husband. He has always been skeptical about my on-again, off-again relationship with dieting, and in general hates the idea of diet food, even raised an eyebrow (his sign of anticipation).
Making the sauce was a little interesting. It doesn't really turn out like a sauce so much. It looks more like salsa. And I have to admit that I was a little leery at the combo of cilantro and parsley. I'm not the biggest cilantro fan. So when we served up the steak, I had put the sauce in a small bowl to the side. I put a little on the top of a small slice of steak, and was immediately surprised. It really brings out the flavor of the beef! If you take small slow bites, even if you're brand new to the South Beach way of doing things and are used to 20 oz strip steaks in one sitting, you will honestly forget how little 4 oz can seem.
I had this dinner with a large fresh cut salad*, with romaine lettuce, tomatoes, celery and cucumbers tossed with my own South Beach Diet-legal ranch dressing (helps to toss the dressing into the salad first so that you get the taste of the dressing without overloading your salad)!
Serves 2.
1/2 c fresh parsley leaves
1/4 c fresh cilantro leaves
1 medium garlic clove
2 tbsp water
1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp table salt, divided
pinch black pepper
1 spray cooking spray
8 oz raw, trimmed beef tenderloin, divided in half
In a food processor, place parsley, cilantro, garlic, water, vinegar, oil, lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt, and pepper. Blend on high, pulsing, until a smooth sauce is formed; set aside.
Coat a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Sprinkle beef with remaining salt; add beef to skillet and cook, flipping once, about 7 - 8 minutes for medium, or longer for desired degree of doneness. Serve with sauce. Yields 1 steak and about 1/3 cup sauce per serving.
* I found Costco sells a 5 pack of romaine hearts for around $5. These are super easy to chop up right before dinner and you usually get one or two more servings of salad out of the one heart. And the bonus is the others will keep for a while without getting too wilty. And if they do, just slice the bottom of the head off and let it sit in cold water for a couple of hours and it will perk back up!
