Steak With Spiced Caramel Sauce and Sauteed Veggies

Man, but I do love my spicy recipes. I've been feeling the effects of my anemia lately while on this diet, so tonight is my splurge meal, meant to get my iron levels back up and taste delicious doing it!

I'm glad you asked! For this, I ended up using boneless beef ribs (on sale at my local grocery store for about $6, and easily the most expensive part of this meal!), but any broiling or grilling cut will work nicely. I also misread my recipe (oops!), and used four green onions instead of the yellow onion - I get hangry and sloppy when I haven't eaten since noon. It still came out delicious, but the onion was significantly less apparent. I'm also entirely out of cheese (a travesty!), so my riced broccoli was a bit...lacking, sadly.

When I made this, I used:

• 4 boneless beef ribs (as long as the total portion of broiling/grilling meat comes out to 6-8 oz, you can use any cut you like!)
• 1 broccoli stalk + crown
• 4 green onions (white and green sections) or 1/2 yellow onion (either will taste delicious!)
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 4 mini sweet peppers
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup white flour

You'll want to start first by preheating your oven to the broil setting, to get it nice and hot for the meat. While the oven is preheating, mix your dry ingredients (minus the flour) into a bowl. Drop in your meat and coat thoroughly, then place it on your broiler pan. Remember to reserve the dry ingredients for your caramel sauce!

While waiting for the oven to heat, prep your vegetables by slicing the carrots (peel them first!), celery, onion, and peppers. Remove the florets from the broccoli stalk and put the stalk in the food processor. I kept my florets whole, but they can be chopped to your wishes. Heat 1 tbsp butter in a medium saucepan and add the vegetables. Reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Once you've added the vegetables to the pan, your oven should be finished preheating. Place the broiler pan in the oven and cook your meat for 15-20 minutes, depending on your preferred doneness. Turn the meat halfway through cooking.

Pulse the broccoli stalk in 2-second intervals (TIP: you can add shredded cheese for a creamier texture) until it reaches a rice-y consistency. Heat 1 tbsp of butter in a small saucepan and add the riced broccoli. Reduce heat to low and cover to cook (6-8 minutes).

Remove meat from oven and let rest (3-5 minutes). Plate vegetables and riced broccoli.

In a small saucepan, mix the dry ingredients (minus the flour) with 1/2 cup of water and 2 tbsp vegetable oil on low heat (TIP: for a little less spicy flavor, use 1/2 a cup of milk instead of water). You can also add the meat drippings for added flavor. Slowly add flour until sauce reaches desired consistency. Raise heat, stirring rapidly, until a caramel texture is achieved. Immediately remove from heat.

Plate your meat and drizzle the caramel over it.

This recipe yields 2 servings.

I was actually a fan of the spice this time! It definitely gave me a bit of a kick in the mouth, but in a good way.

This is absolutely a recipe I would try again and again, and my boyfriend is definitely happy that I figured out the caramel again - after many, MANY previous errors.