"Work With It"--Steak Diane

The name of this dish always makes me think of my friend Leslie from High School.  We called her "Diane"...that was her middle name and I don't know why we got so tickled over that.  But, a lot of what went down in High School doesn't make sense.  Pretty much any meat, poultry or seafood can be "Dianed".  This is a comfort food that is easy and pleasing to kids and adults.  Yesterday morning I checked out my pantry and fridge to see what I had to work with.

The ingredients are as follows:
2 new york strip steaks, sliced thinly
1 red bell pepper (organic)--chopped
1 carrot (organic)--chopped
3 green onions--chopped
1 small white onion--chopped
1 clove of garlic--minced
1/2 pound of sliced mushrooms (what ever you've got)
One box of Uncle Ben's Rice--Original Recipe (You'll see this staple time and again)
Olive Oil
Half a stick of butter
Seasoned Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
1 Roma Tomato--diced and set aside
2 Tbsp Chives--chopped and set aside

Cook the Uncle Ben's according to package. 
Butter---Who doesn't love it.  I believe in cooking with REAL natural butter, not margarine.  Although margarine has fewer calories it isn't made with food ingredients...chemicals!  So, melt your BUTTER in a skillet (I do almost everything in seasoned cast iron) and saute your garlic in the butter, add all other vegetables, except tomato and mushrooms and cook until tender.  Remove vegetables from skillet and set aside.  Salt and pepper steak strips. Put a Tbsp of olive oil in same skillet, heat to medium and cook until tender.  Remove meat from skillet with a slotted spoon.  Add slightly salted mushrooms to the meat juices and and let cook for 5 minutes.  Add all cooked vegetables and meat to the skillet and let flavors combine for a few minutes.  Place a serving of cooked rice in a bowl, put skillet mixture over rice.  Top with uncooked, fresh diced tomatoes and chives and one turn of fresh pepper.  Serve with crusty french bread and a salad.
In this dish you and your family are getting a full 2 servings of vegetables, a lean meat, and whole grains.  My children prefer the meat mixture on the side of the rice insead of on top. 

So, there's last night's meal.  No cookbook necessary and no trip to the grocery store.