Who doesn’t want lean flanks?
You’ve been crushing the workouts faithfully, 5 am training, fasted cardio, the works. But if you have to eat chicken one more time this week you will probably go postal. Or at the very least they’ll find you in a corner covered in Nutella blubbering about Narnia and garden gnomes. Personally, I eat beef regularly and so do my clients (ah the joys of macro diets). Flank Steak is lean and muscular. This steak has a great flavor, and should be sliced against the grain for maximum chewability. Medium-rare is the perfect doneness for this cut; anything more, and the meat will be dry and tough. Beef is a good source of B3, zinc, iron, and selenium. Iron is of particular importance to heavy lifters and athletes, especially those immersed in contest prep as they tend to be susceptible to exercise-induced anemia due to their huge workloads.
OR AT THE VERY LEAST THEY’LL FIND YOU IN A CORNER COVERED IN NUTELLA BLUBBERING ABOUT NARNIA AND GARDEN GNOMES.
Just check out this awesome macro profile for this protein-packed meat:
Flank, cooked, 3 oz. (85.05g)
Calories: 192.1
Protein: 22.4g
Carbohydrate: 0.0g
Total Fat: 10.6g
FLANK STEAK STIR FRY
Ingredients
3 Tbsp canola, rice bran, grapeseed, or other high smoke-point cooking oil
½ cup snow peas
1 medium red pepper, julienned
2 cups broccoli florets
1 lb of flank steak, sliced in half lengthwise (along the grain) and then cut into thin strips (across the grain), 2 inches long and ¼ inch wide (put the steak in the freezer for 15 minutes before slicing to make it easier to slice)
2 teaspoons of cornstarch dissolved into 3 Tablespoons of water
Stir Fry Sauce
3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce for gluten-free version)
1 teaspoon finely chopped, peeled, fresh ginger
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 green onion, including green tops, chopped
½ tsp chili oil
Instructions:
1. If you are planning to serve this dish with rice, in a separate pot, prepare 2 cups of brown rice, following the instructions on the rice package.
2. In a small dish, stir together the stir fry sauce ingredients—soy sauce, chopped ginger, minced garlic, chopped green onion, chili oil—and set aside.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok (or a thick-bottomed pot that can handle high heat) on high heat until shimmery. Add the snow peas and broccoli and fry, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes or until tender/crisp. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set aside.
4. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the pan on high heat until shimmery. Stir fry the beef strips in batches, for 2 to 3 minutes per batch, until they are browned but still a little pink inside. Return the first batches of beef strips to the pan along with the bell pepper strips. Stir and toss over high heat until the bell pepper strips are just beginning to wilt, 1-2 minutes.
5. Quickly stir the cornstarch liquid and add it to the pan along with the stir fry sauce. Cook until sauce thickens, 1-2 minutes. Return the snow peas and broccoli to the pan, toss to evenly coat and serve with steamed rice (unless you are going low-carb, in which case, leave out the rice).
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