Nothing for Lunch

Sometimes when there is nothing for lunch, there is!  I try to always keep raw nuts, cheese and some type of fruit in the fridge.  Even a simple lunch of a tomato or a cucumber dressed with a little plain yogurt & dill can be satisfying and filling!  Even just salt and pepper with fresh raw vegetables is yum!  When I lived in Alabama I had a very nice garden with plenty of space for the herbs to go crazy.  I used to have lunches of fresh herbs with cheese and crackers.  Sometimes my meals would be based around what herbs needed to be trimmed back!

Now that I'm back in the city I don't have the space for a huge garden, but I still love fresh herbs and vegetables.  I have a balcony where I just planted a pot of culinary herbs.

Lemon Thyme was my favorite with cheeses, but it was also the perfect companion to a flat iron steak that I grilled in my kitchen one afternoon.  After cooking the steak I topped it with a little butter and chopped fresh lemon thyme.  It was the first steak I had ever made for myself. 

I was vegan for about 15 years! 

I'm not anymore, and here's how I made my first steak:

how to cook a steak in a cast iron skillet

Take the battery out of your smoke alarm.

Make sure to have the steak, a clean plate, a pot holder, a pat of butter, freshly chopped herbs and a fork to grab the steak all ready.

Heat your cast iron pan to really really hot.  I mean hot hot.

Don't oil it.  A seasoned cast iron pan is all you need.  The fat from the staek is enough oil to cook it.

Have everything ready, because once you throw the steak ont he pan you can't walk away from it! 

Throw the steak in the pan and cook for 2 minutes, undisturbed.  This is going to generate a lot of sizzling, popping and smoke.  Don't worry, you're not burning it, you're cooking it perfectly.

After two minutes exactly, turn the steak over and cook for another 2 minutes.  Keep the burner on high.  Again, lots of smoke but this is good.

After 2 min on that side, your steak is ready.  Put the steak on a plate and top with butter and freshly chopped herbs.  I used lemon thyme and it was amazing.  I put freshly ground black pepper on my steak too.

Cover with foil and let sit for 5 min.  I know this is really hard to do, but it makes the steak so yummy so be patient and wait out the entire 5 minutes!

Amazing, and no grill needed, or wanted.

Lunch can be simple and healthy.  I'm a grazer; I snack all day long.  I always have.  I've learned that eating little healthful tidbits all day works for me.  Keeps me energized, happy, satisfied, and I feel good about what I'm snacking on.  I like salty snacks every now and then too, but my first option is always something nature had intended as instant food.  Always keep popcorn in the cupboard.  Always have a good chunk of cheese.  Raw nuts are good snackin, but also help out in lots of other recipes!

Next time you think there's nothing for lunch, look again, maybe there really is!