Steak For One On A Budget?

Eating well when you are eating single can get expensive. I admit that I have not paid close attention to how much I spend per meal. As long as my monthly food budget seemed on track I didn't take the time to break it down to weekly, daily or per meal costs. As part of my renewal and my annual birthday challenge (which I never reveal until May 1), I will be keeping a close eye on meal costs in order to be even more intentional in my menu planning and shopping.

I pack my lunch for work and so I cook multiple servings of the same meal. This allows for the bulk of my cooking to be done on the weekend and lets me take advantage of the typically "not for one" food packaging. I really love beef and as the weather changes from winter to spring I move from my favorite roasts, stews and soups to lighter fare. If it can be cooked on the grill it's even more perfect! I noticed an extremely small (for Costco) package of flank steak and before I knew it, the 1.6 pound package was in my cart. I found 5 ounces packages of arugula on sale at Cub (2 for $5.00) and I knew this steak salad from Mickey Trescott's The Nutrient-Dense Kitchen cookbook would be in my lunch box this week.

The weather was not ideal for grilling but the sear and roast method came to the rescue and might just be my go-to for this recipe (I'll share why in just a bit). After seasoning and searing the flank steak the cast iron pan went into my toaster oven to finish up. While it was roasting I tossed the salad ingredients together. I hadn't followed the recipe well since Mickey suggested starting with the dressing. Oops! But after I took the steak out of the toaster oven (a personal favorite tool for cooking and eating single) and transferred it to the cutting board to rest I noticed the pan juices smelled amazing! I decided to reduce them down and add them to some avocado oil and balsamic to make my salad dressing. The dressing perfectly complemented the salad. If I had followed directions I might not have made this little discovery.

As for the cost breakdown, the flank steak was $7.99 per pound so I spent $13.09 on my protein. The arugula was $5.00 for 10 ounces. The amount of red onion and radish I used came to $0.50 and the seasoning and dressing came to about $2.00 (I will have to do a better job of keeping track of what I spend on my kitchen essentials). Avocados were about $1 each and I used 1/4 of an avocado in this recipe. I allowed for 4 ounce flank steak portions per meal so this recipe will make 5 meals for me. So that makes the cost of each steak salad meal around $4.50. Not a bad price for a steak dinner.