Quick and Easy Weeknight Dinner

Another day, another recipe! I told you I got inspired by my recent trip to California to try doing more actual (healthy) cooking and baking. While flying back to DC and reading through my Real Simple magazine (one of my favorites with tips that are actually helpful for life), I found a great quick, easy, and most importantly, delicious, recipe that is also low in calories. Win!

Sirloin Steak with Tomatoes and Mozzarella

The recipe as written feeds four. Well, that just won't do for a single free-lovin gal who lives on her own. It was super easy to divide though; I bought a pack of multiple steaks and just cooked up one (approximately 6 oz.) and divided all the cherry tomatoes and mozzarella (which came in a pack of four balls) into quarters. If you want to half it or make the full recipe, it will be just as easy.

1.5 lbs. sirloin steak
1 pint cherry tomatoes
4 balls mozzarella (bocconcini)
Bay leaves (fresh or dried)
Salt and pepper to taste

Salt and pepper both sides of the steak; cut into strips. Slice tomatoes and mozzarella balls into halves or quarters.

Cook the steak strips in a skillet over medium heat in olive oil (approximately 2 minutes per side). Remove and place on plate. Reduce heat to low; put tomatoes into skillet and cook until soft (approximately 1-2 minutes). Add mozzarella and bay leaves, if desired, to pan with tomatoes and cook until just beginning to melt. Place on top of steak.

Voila! The original recipe called for cooking the steak and then slicing, but I found the raw meat much easier to cut. Also, it speeds up the cooking time by about 10 minutes since the sliced meat cooks much faster. But if you prefer your steak on the medium or rare side, you might want to stick with cutting the meat after its cooked.

Calorie count = 294 per serving (1/4 of the recipe).