Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Peppercorn-Crusted Tenderloin with Gremolata + 30 Days of Dinner

 

Oof. These past 30 days have been a bit of a killer on my meal planning. We've spent a ton of evenings out at social events and our refrigerator/freezer has been kaput for the past almost two weeks! It was theoretically fixed Monday (after the repairman being 2 1/2 hours late for the appointment and showing up, of course, 20 minutes before I needed to leave and get the kids for school), but still is not working. Shocking. Fingers crossed for today's now "emergency" appointment. 

In annnnny event, all of this has meant lots of eating out, ordering in, and easily fixed meals at home. So there's not all that many actual "dinners" in this 30 Days of Dinner. But we're powering through .... And the featured recipe is an absolute family fave -- lots of flavor, not a lot of work. Which also means not a lot of leftovers -- a huge bonus when you are using two wine fridges as your family refrigerator. We loved it so much that I made it twice this month. Give it a go! 

Peppercorn-Crusted Tenderloin with Gremolata 
(slightly adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients
- 4 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks, trimmed
- Olive oil cooking spray 
- 2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt, divided 
- 4 teaspoons olive oil 
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro 
- 1 1/2 tsp chopped garlic 
- 1 tsp chopped fresh oregano 
- 1/2 tsp grated lemon rind 
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice 
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper 

Directions 
1. Coat each steak with olive oil cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil; swirl to coat. Add steaks to pan, and cook for 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. 

2. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon oil, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, parsley, and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Serve with steak. 

*          *          *

30 Days of Dinner

Day 1(M) -- brinner/leftovers.
Day 2 (T) -- Bimbimap Bowls with cauliflower rice -- everyone loved this (so thanks, Darcy!! If you don't follow No Monsters in My Bed, make sure to check out her Meal Plan posts -- lots of good ones!)
Day 3 (W) -- leftovers
Day 4 (Th) -- Chinese takeout -- a sick Cam requested won ton soup, so we obliged.
Day 5 (F) -- Chicken Stew with Green Olives -- awesome recipe and the kids found it hilariously funny to watch me watch youtube on repeat to learn how to properly quarter a whole chicken. Plus lots of homemade yummy stock from the leftovers.
Day 6 (Sat) -- dinner out.
Day 7 (Sun) -- dinner out.

Day 8 (M) -- Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Pulled Pork Tacos -- I used this recipe (minus the brown sugar) for the pulled pork and added cubed butternut squash. Kids got tortillas, I used collard greens to make a wrap.
Day 9 (T) -- dinner out with local blogger friends Darcy and Linda at Rasika -- not Paleo :)
Day 10 (W) -- Sirloin and Potatoes with Cornichon Pan Sauce; Kale and Delicata Squash Salad.
Day 11 (Th) -- dinner out at a pro bono shindig where Mr. Not-So-SAHM received a well-deserved award.
Day 12 (F) -- dinner out at Nando's Peri Peri (I'm obsessed with their Nutty Date Chicken Salad)
Day 13 (Sat) -- dinner out at a school progressive dinner.
Day 14 (Sun) -- Chicken Escalopes with Olive, Caper and Tomato Dressing; Carrot and Cauliflower Mash

Day 15 (M) -- Peppercorn-Crusted Tenderloin with Gremolata; roasted sweet potatoes and carrots.
Day 16 (T) -- brinner.
Day 17 (W) -- Muffuletta Chicken and leftover veggies -- delish.
Day 18 (Th) -- dinner out.
Day 19 (F) -- Steak with Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute (such an easy fix for meat); roasted veggies.
Day 20 (Sat) -- dinner out.
Day 21(Sun) -- Lemon Chicken with Red Onion (sans sugar); roasted potatoes.

Day 22 (M) -- Italian Baked Eggs (sans cheese and bread); Balsamic and Olive Oil Roasted Cauliflower.
Day 23 (T) -- Paleo Burgers; sweet potato fries; and green beans.
Day 24 (W) -- leftovers.
Day 25 (Th) -- Slow cooker Maple + Dijon Pot Roast; Twice Baked Potato Skins (with regular baking potatoes and minus the sweets); Orange-Glazed Carrots -- this whole meal just tastes like fall and everyone chowed!
Day 26 (F) -- dinner out.
Day 27 (Sat) -- dinner out.
Day 28 (Sun) -- dinner out.

Day 29 (M) -- Back Pocket Turkey Bolognese over Spaghetti Squash "noodles."
Day 30 (T) -- Peppercorn-Crusted Tenderloin with Gremolata and roasted potatoes 

No comments: