Beef and Asparagus - Not Just For Breakfast!

So this morning, inexplicably, I woke up at 5:15 a.m. ready to go. Since I was up so early, and knew I was working until at least 7 p.m. tonight, I decided to make dinner for breakfast. I had this beautiful grass-fed skirt steak from Morris Grass Fed Beef at the Saturday Farmers’ Market in Salinas. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, and a little ancho chili powder and cooked it medium rare (took only a few minutes a side) in my cast-iron skillet. In my smaller skillet, I put a little olive oil, got it nice and hot, and threw in 6 nice big asparagus spears (storing them upright in the glass of water in the fridge works very well). You could also do this in a nonstick pan with a little water, although that will tend to steam the asparagus rather than pan-roast it, which was what I wanted. You don’t even really need a spatula – just toss the pan around every few minutes until the sides have some dark spots and the texture is what you want. How do you tell? Take out a spear and bite into it!


I plated everything up with a piece of whole wheat toast – it was breakfast after all – and enjoyed. It got me through until well past noon, and I felt like I had a real treat at the beginning of my day. If you have not yet tried grass-fed beef, I urge you to do so. You will find it is more expensive than the conventionally-raised meat, but if you’re eating a primarily plant-based diet, you won’t purchase it as often and it will be more of a treat than an everyday menu item. There is a real difference I’m sure you’ll enjoy.

Until next time, see you at the market!