Spicy Cilantro-Lime Marinated Flat Iron Steak

This is a fun recipe that we have cooked a few times. I use a slightly modified version of the original recipe that can be found at allrecipes.com.  It is easy to make, takes very little hands-on preparation time, and makes wonderful steak tacos.  Normally I would use a red onion like the recipe suggests, but this time I used a yellow onion since that was what I had in the pantry.  I didn't notice that there was much of a difference in the cooked steak flavor with the yellow onion...but I didn't like the green sauce as much this time as when I have made it before.  For the lime juice you can either use fresh lime juice or bottled lime juice, with this recipe there is not much of a flavor difference. You can also use a different cut of meat, like flank or skirt steak if you want. I prefer flat iron steak just because you can get good deals on it & it picks up flavors well.  

I served this tonight with flour tortillas, queso fresco, fresh lettuce from our garden, various hot sauces & the extra green sauce from the recipe.  I hope you enjoy!  

Not that pretty...but it was delicious.

Spicy Lime-Cilantro Marinated Flat Iron Steak

Serves 2-4, Prep time= 5 min, Marinating time= 12-24 hours, Cook time= 10-20 minutes

Ingredients

Ingredient Lineup

• 6 cloves garlic
• 1/2 of red onion
• 2 limes, juiced
• 1-2 medium jalapeño peppers
• 1 T dried thyme
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro (approximately 1 cup cilantro leaves)
• 1/4 c vegetable oil
• 2 T honey
• 2-3 pounds beef flat iron steak
• kosher salt to taste

Directions

1.  Cut stems off of cilantro.  Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender.  Blend until ingredients are liquefied.

The sauce is really green...

2.  Put steak into a large gallon resealable bag.  Add 3/4 of the sauce to the bag & massage into the steak.  Place bag on a plate & place in the refrigerator.  Marinate for 12-24 hours. Move the remaining sauce into a sealed container & save for a condiment for the tacos.  

Let it chill overnight.  Notice the extra sauce
in the background.  Save it as a taco
topping for the meal.

3.  Remove steak from fridge & let it warm up on the counter for 15-20 minutes.  Remove steak from the marinade & shake off extra marinade.  Discard marinade & bag.  Preheat grill to Medium-High.

Steak post marinade.

4.  Cook steak on grill to desired doneness. We cooked this about 5-7 minutes per side, which yielded a good Medium-Rare/Medium on our grill.  Your cooking time will be dependent on your grill (this can also be cooked on a grill pan).  Let the steak rest 5-10 minutes prior to cutting.  Cut the steak across the grain into thin strips.

Sizzle Sizzle.

Zzzzzzz...it's resting...

Slice thinly.

5.  Serve steak with tortillas & your choice of toppings.

Our toppings for tonight: hot sauces, fresh garden lettuce,
green sauce & queso fresco.  

Enjoy!!