This recipe does require enough planning to marinate a piece of meat, but aside from that, the whole recipe is prepped and done in the time it takes for the steak to cook (which is only 10-15 minutes). So if you can get your steak prepped, this makes a great quick and easy meal for a busy night. The marinade (which we’ll also use to season the rice portion) is just a slight adaptation of Kate’s yummy Greek Dressing. It takes just a few minutes to whip up in a blender. After you do, set aside a little to use later, and pour the rest over a nice flank steak.
When you’re ready to cook the steak, I’ve outlined 3 different methods in the instructions. You can cook it on an outdoor grill, and indoor grill pan, or under the broiler. This round, I’m going for the broiler. In my house growing up, at least once a week my parents would cook flank steak under the broiler for dinner. That smokey smell and sizzling sound is so nostalgic for me. The rest of the recipe will be done in the time the steak takes to cook. Grab a little clamshell of grape or cherry tomatoes. For me, the smaller the better.
Heat a small sauté pan to medium heat and once it’s hot, add a tiny drizzle of olive oil. You really need just a teeny tiny bit. Toss the tomatoes around until they get little blackened spots and they start to wilt.
Cook them until they start to burst and then remove the pan from heat. That usually takes me about 5 minutes or so.
While those are cooking, crack open a little jar of marinated artichoke hearts. Drain them and give them a rough chop. You don’t want to chop them into little pieces, I cut the chunks into halves or quarters so I still have good sized pieces in there.
Add those to the hot pan with the tomatoes.
Then add a couple cups of hot rice. Little secret: I use these ready-packs all the time. I know there are people who will say “but Sara! It’s not hard to cook rice! For that same price you can buy a giant bag of rice and make 10 times that same amount!” Ya, I know. Sometimes I’m too lazy to get out yet another pot and wait 20 minutes for rice (or much longer for brown rice). These packs are super convenient, and the the brown rice especially is perfectly cooked, soft and fluffy, and ready in 90 seconds. And it’s not that fake-y texture of “minute rice,” it’s like real, freshly cooked yummy rice. So it might not be an every day thing, but it’s super handy to have around for quick meals like this. (If you do cook your own brown rice, we have two awesome methods, here and here.)
And since we’re on this topic, that one on the right (in the photo below) you can buy at Costco and it’s one of my favorite kitchen staples. It’s a brown rice/quinoa mix. It’s lightly seasoned and so perfect and easy. That’s a go-to for quick weeknight meals at my house, keep an eye out on your next Costco run. Okay, back to our recipe. After that hot rice goes in (and by the way, you could use brown rice, white rice, quinoa, or cous cous. All would be great here.) Add in a big handful of fresh parsley
and some feta cheese.
I always buy either reduced fat or fat free feta. It honestly tastes just the same to me, especially in recipes, and saves quite a few calories.
Then you’ll season the rice mixture with the little bit of marinade we set aside at the beginning. I recommend about 2 tablespoons, and then you can drizzle a little more over your steak after you plate it.
Mix it all up and that rice starts soaking up the bright, fresh flavor of the dressing. As you can see in this picture, the ratio of rice to other stuff is about even, which I like.
The only thing left to do is slice your steak nice and thin. Make sure you’re slicing across the grain. If you’re not sure what that means, check out this post. Another thing to take note of is that flank steak turns quite tough when cooked past medium rare, so take it out of the oven when a digital thermometer reads about 135. You’ll want to let it sit for about 5 minutes before slicing into.
Place steak strips over rice mixture and sprinkle with a little extra feta and a little extra drizzle of dressing if desired.
It’s so quick and easy, this makes a great weeknight meal when you’re short on actual cooking time, and the meal itself is so flavorful- and healthy, too! The dressing, artichokes, and feta give the best savory tang and the steak brings it all together and makes it hearty and filling.
