Recipe: Colombian Carne Asada with Ají Picante

Colombian Carne Asada with Ají Picante - A Skinny Taste Cookbook Recipe
208 Calories* || Serves 6

Last night I managed to impress my husband my marinating 3 lbs of flank steak ($20 at Costco - couldn't say no) and grilling it to perfection (a nice pink, medium-rare) and pairing it with a spicy salsa. 

He was less impressed when I told him I simply followed a recipe in my new cookbook. Nonetheless, I impressed myself!

I pulled the steak out on Friday to thaw and let it marinate over night. Saturday at 3pm it was game time! 

I did not take photos of the process, but the instructions below are detailed enough and I am confident yours will turn out just as delicious! 

I doubled this recipe because I had over 3lb of steak, but the ingredients list is for 1.5lb.

For the steak:

1.5lbs flank steak
1tsp ground cumin
1/2tsp oregano
1/2tsp kosher salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
1tbsp EVOO
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 scallions, chopped 
3/4c Corona Light beer

For the Ají Picante:

3tbsp fresh lime juice 
1/2tbsp distilled white vinegar
1/4c finely chopped scallions
1/4c chopped cilantro
1/4c seeded & chopped tomato
1tbsp finely minced fresh jalapeño
1/4tsp kosher salt


For the steak:

Thaw steaks completely. Using a sharp knife, lightly score steaks 1/8in deep on both sides in a criss cross pattern and place in a 9x11 glass baking dish. 

In a small bowl, combine the cumin, oregano, salt, and black pepper to taste. Rub the EVOO and garlic over both sides of the steak, then rub in the spice mix. Add the scallions and beer, turning over the steaks a few times to coat both sides. Cover with foil or cling wrap and refrigerate 3 hours, up to overnight. Flip occasionally. 

For the Ají Picante:

In a small bowl, combine 1/4c water, the lime juice, vinegar, scallions, cilantro, tomato, jalapeño, and salt. Refrigerate until ready to use. 

I altered the Ají Picante recipe. As mentioned in a previous post, I am a convenience person. If it saves me time, I'm in! I picked up a pico-de-gallo salsa at Trader Joe's and drained the juice with a spoon and used that in place of the scallions, chopped tomato, and chopped jalapeño. I simply added garlic, cilantro, lime juice, vinegar and salt. I also left out the 3/4c water. My version was delicious and faster! 

Preheat your grill to high and lightly oil the grate. Remove the steaks and discard the marinade, and grill to preferred doneness (3-4 minutes on each side yields a beautiful medium-rare). Place steaks on a cutting board and let sit five minutes. Thinly slice steaks across the grain. Transfer to a plate and serve with ají picante on top. 

I served mine with long grain brown rice, avocado, and an asparagus stir fry (pre-cut and packaged at Trader Joe's for the less than the price of buying all the produce separately -- and I didn't have to chop it. WINNING!) 

*Adding the stir fry, rice, and avocado increases the total calorie amount.