Mexican Steak Taco Bowl

Just in time for Cinco De Mayo celebrations, Lepp Farm Market has this great recipe. The recipe includes comments and insights from Charlotte Lepp.

The best thing about “bowl” recipes is that you can whip them up using whatever you have on hand, improvising as you go. Or, you can take your time and make an exceptional dish with from-scratch sauces and marinades. It really is as time-intensive (or not) as you’d like it to be.

I’ve combined some of my favourite elements, like a flavourful grilled steak, two creamy from-scratch sauces and a cilantro-lime quinoa (or rice, you choose!) for the base. From there, you can add (or not add) as many other fresh chopped toppings as you’d like.

For this recipe, we’ll be preparing:

• Fresh Chopped Toppings
• Lime-Cilantro Quinoa or Rice Base
• Avocado Jalapeno Sauce (Mexi-bowl sauce)
• Chipotle Cream Sauce
• Grilled Steak

Ingredients

I recommend marinating the steak overnight before making this bowl, it really is worth that extra step. Just whip up a batch of marinade on a Sunday afternoon, and you’ll be all set later in the week when you want to make this! No time for that? No problem –  to make this dish even easier, purchase a Lepp’s Cedar-Planked Flat-Iron Steak and grill according to directions. It won’t have the Mexican spices on it, but once you add all the other elements to the bowl, no one will ever know.

It may look like a lot of ingredients at first, but don’t worry – if you cook from home on any kind of regular basis, you likely already have a lot of these things in your fridge or cupboard. Plus, a lot of the components we’re making have similar ingredients.

1 Cedar Plank Flat Iron Steak

For The Steak Marinade (Optional):

• 1 Tbsp garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup Lime Juice
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded & minced fine
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (or Naked Coconut soy alternative)
• 2 Tbsp Apple Cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp White sugar
• 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground cumin seed

For The Creamy Avocado & Jalapeno Sauce

• 1 jalapeno
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup fresh cilantro
• 1 large lime, juiced
• 1/4 cup toasted pumpkin seeds (a quick saute in a fry pan until they’re fragrant, but watch out as they can go from perfect to burnt quickly)
• 1 anchovy (optional but delicious)
• 1 Tbsp. white or red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 tsp. sea salt

For the Chipotle Cream Sauc

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 Tbsp Honey or agave syrup, optional (if you like a little bit of sweet with your spicy)

For the Lime-Cilantro Quinoa or Rice

• 1 Handful cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 Lime, zested
• 1/2 Lime, juiced
• 2 Cups quinoa, rinsed, or Rice
• 4 Cups Lepp’s Chicken Broth
• 1 Can (4oz) diced green chiles
• 2 Tbsp butter

Toppings

• Shredded Cheese
• Grilled Corn, or use 1 can whole kernel corn, drained
• Extra Lime Wedges
• Chopped peppers of your choice
• Black Beans, drained and rinsed
• Fresh Pico de Gallo or Salsa of your choice.  I love Fresh is Best Salsa, and if you like a little bit of sweet, you can add a chopped mango to the salsa.

Thanks to Lepp Farm Market for this great recipe!