Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Southwestern Strip Steaks with Avocado Pico de Gallo

As the summer wraps up to a close and the evenings aren't as long, I start turning to quicker recipes for everyday grilling.  Don't you?

Take last night for example.  After work, I didn't have a lot of time to get dinner together and we had things to do so I made these quick but fantastic tasting steaks in hardly any time at all.  Southwestern spice rubs pack a little heat and while the pico de gallo compliments that heat with the charred mild green chile, the avocado helps cool it out.

With all of that flavor going on, I needed a side dish that was not wimpy.  I turned to the bold tastes of Bush's Grillin' Beans for my side dish and served it with their Black Bean Fiesta Grillin' Beans.  It is probably my favorite variety of Grillin' Beans for anything with a Southwestern flare.  The black beans, yellow corn, and red peppers make a fiesta on your plate.

Best of all - minimal prep and cook time.  Spot on for everyday grilling!

Southwestern Strip Steaks with Avocado Pico de Gallo
source:  www.nibblemethis.com
Serves: 4
Prep time:  20 minutes    Cook time:  10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 4 New York strip steaks
  • 8 tsp Southwestern seasoning* divided
  • 1 cup fresh tomatoes, diced (about 2 Roma tomatoes)
  • 1 avocado, peeled and diced
  • 1/3 cup red onion, peeled and diced
  • 1 Anaheim or New Mexico chile, roasted, seeded and peeled*
  • 2 Tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp lime juice
Instructions
  1. Remove the steaks from refrigeration and allow to warm at room temperature.
  2. Toss the tomatoes, red onion, green chile, cilantro, lime juice, and 1/2 tsp of the Southwestern seasoning.  Add the avocado and lightly fold in.  Taste and season with a pinch or two of salt if needed.
  3. Preheat your grill to 450f (medium-high).  Once your grill has been at 450f for 5 minutes, make sure your grill grates are clean and lubricate them using tongs with an oil soaked rag or paper towel.  
  4. Season the steaks with the remaining Southwestern seasoning on all sides.  
  5. Grill the steaks until they reach an internal temperature of 125f, about 4 minutes per side, for medium rare (temp will rise up to medium rare temps during the rest period).  For medium, cook until reaching an internal temp of 130-135f, about 6 minutes per side.   
  6. Let the steaks rest for at least 5 minutes on a raised rack above a plate.
  7. Serve the steaks topped with the pico.  
Notes
  • Southwestern seasoning - Tonight I used a 1:1 mix of a green chile rub from a small bottler and a store bought red Southwestern seasoning.  Here is the Southwestern rub recipe I make from scratch but tonight I was just grabbing stuff off the shelf.
  • Roasted pepper - For heat level, Anaheim is mild.  You can use about 1/4 cup of canned green chiles but roasting them brings so much more flavor.  For more about roasting chiles, check out this post Grilling 101:  How To Fire Roast Chiles.
Don't be shy with the seasoning.  You're Grillin' Bold here!  

If you want cross hatch marks, rotate the steak a quarter turn half way through each side's cooking time.
For extra seasoning, I tossed a few small chunks of mesquite wood on the coals just before adding the steaks.

Gratuitous Egg shot.  I just wish you could smell the aroma of mesquite smoke and grilling steaks coming out of the top.

The purpose of using the raised rack is to avoid the steaming effect that happens when placed directly on a plate.  That lets all your "steaky juicy goodness" escape.   If you don't have a rack like this, steal the one out of your toaster oven or microwave.  

Instead of piling the pico all on top of the steak, I like to do it a little offset like this.  Plus push the beans right up on that steak so their sauce mixes in.  It's a fiesta dagnabit!  

Bonus Recipe
The college football season kicks off tomorrow night and tailgating season is here.  It's always good to have a quick dip recipe up your sleeve, right?   I stole this from saw this on Bush's Facebook Page.



I made a version of this before but I used Black Bean Fiesta Grillin' Beans and a Mexican cheese blend with the sour cream.  Super fast, super easy, and super good.  What else could you want?


Labor Day Grillin' Beans Giveaway!
The folks at Bush's want to help you keep your grillin' groove going and are sponsoring this great grilling gear give away on my blog:



The set includes free Bush's Grillin' Beans, cast iron skewers, spatula, fork, basting brush, and a triple LED grilling light that will light up your grill so you can keep on grilling as the nights fall earlier and earlier.

How to enter:

  1. Leave a comment below telling me A) one of your favorite grilled chicken, pork chops, or steak recipe, B) the flavor of Bush's Grillin' Beans that you would serve it with AND C) once sentence that either describes your recipe or why you choose it.  
  2. Contest period runs through Labor Day 2012 and ends at 9/3/12 at 11:59:59pm.  
  3. Drawing will be random using random.org to draw the winner.
  4. Winner must claim prize within one week of posted notice or I will choose a replacement from the remaining entries.
If you are grillin' bold this weekend, be sure to grab a few cans of Bush's Grillin' Beans!

Giveaway closed:  Winner is Marilyn!

[Standard Disclaimer]  I have a partnership with Bush Beans and received compensation for producing 5 recipe posts.  You might notice I've used various Bush products in way more posts that that this year.  It's because our family really likes and uses Bush Beans that much.  We have used their baked beans and ingredient beans for long before I had a blog.  We have loved the Grillin' Beans since they came out a few years ago.  Bush has always just been the gold standard when it comes to bean products for us.  I'm proud to partner with them.