At least for this week! :) After all that cheesecake, lasagna and blintzes, I think we all need to lighten up our menu’s just a bit. My husband decided to join the diet bandwagon as well, and I wanted to make him feel good about it. I figured for his first day of dieting, I would treat him to a special dinner. But not just any dinner. A dinner that would show him that you can have your fast food and eat it too!
This was my plan – make his favorite fast food, have it look delicious, taste even better, and keep it lighter than the deep-fried version!
The Steak Santiago sandwich from Subsational is among my husband’s favorites. It includes rib steak with lettuce, tomato, onion and their spicy mayo. To lighten this up, I made an open-face sandwich on a half of a whole wheat baguette with lean sandwich steak, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and sauteed onions. I whipped up some easy garlic mayo with a lowfat canola variety.
Next, onto the fries. Of course fried anything was out of the question. And I had to give the potatoes the boot as well. Instead, I roasted some butternut squash fries with some chili powder and smoked paprika. They came out delicious.
Finally, just for fun I had to throw in a few chicken nuggets. I dipped a few pieces of chicken breasts into light olive oil and flavored corn flake crumbs and baked until crispy (about 15 minutes at 400 degrees – 8 minutes on one side, 5 on the other).
Needless to say, my husband was more than satisfied with this lightened up version of his favorite fast food. Of course I won’t be doing this regularly, but it’s good to know that our favorite comfort foods can still be eaten, albeit on special occasions, and a little on the lighter side!
Marinated Sandwich Steak
Sandwich steaks are quite lean. Marinating them helps to tenderize the meat by holding the moisture in the thin slices.
1 pkg sandwich steak
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon canola oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Method:
Mix ingredients for marinade and pour into ziploc bag. Add sandwich steak and refrigerate for a few hours (or less if you don’t have the time). Saute on high heat for about 2 minutes on each side.
How did you make the garlic mayo? Just mixed garlic and mayo? (what are the proportions?)
Also, do you have some secret way of cutting butternut squash so that it shouldn’t be so difficult to chop?
Hi Rivky, I used 1/2 cup canola mayo, 1 clove of garlic, a teaspoon of lemon juice and a pinch of salt. I wish I could tell you a trick for the butternut squash. Short of buying it already peeled and chopped at your grocer, there is no trick that I know of. I do find, however, that it is easier to peel when you separate the top and bottom of the squash. As mentioned in the post, I only use the top portion for the fries.
Where do I buy can of plums
I’m not sure where you live but I usually find it by the canned fruit.