When the days are hectic you need a little simplicity in your life. During the holiday season we have the added pressure of trimming the tree and decorating our homes. We are baking cookies and cakes, and planning menus for holiday parties and dinners. We are scrambling to buy and wrap last minute gifts for those we forgot about. At the end of the day you want something simple for dinner. Simple, simple, simple but with great taste.
What is easier than a steak, potato and salad.
We don’t eat a lot of steak and when we do we just want a little but we want it to have great taste. Tonight’s dinner is a skirt steak that is well known for its use in fajitas. Marinated for several hours to ensure good flavor, quickly grilled to medium rare, sliced thin, and then drizzled with chimichurri sauce. Juicy and delicious.
To go along with the dinner was a twice baked potato. Baked earlier in the day and left to cool. At dinner time I scooped out the center and mixed the potato with butter, sour cream, horseradish cheddar cheese and green onions. It was put into a 350 degree oven and baked until warmed through and the top was nicely browned.
A simple salad of cherry tomatoes and mixed greens with a simple vinaigrette completed the meal. In less than 30 minutes, we had a great tasting dinner. A four ounce portion of lean beef, half of a twice baked potato and a nice salad was a totally satisfying meal and healthy.
Now I have time to sit down, relax and read your blogs.
Back Road Journal 
I love the look of your steak and may well make it for my husabnd’s birthday next week. Looks gorgeous and quick to put together!
Hi Laura, Thank you for your comment. I think your husband would enjoy the dinner, I know my husband was very happy.
A perfect meal and so prettily presented too. I haven’t done twice baked spuds for a while, thanks for the reminder.
🙂 Mandy
Hi Mandy, Thank you for your compliment. Sometimes we forget about preparing foods that we really enjoy but haven’t made in a while.
Now you are talking my kind of cooking…fast, simple easy. ~~Bliss
Hi Bliss, When life is really busy…simple and fast works every time.
When we eat steak, we want a lot! Yours looks delicious!
Hi Rosemary, Thank you for your compliment. As much as we love steak we try to eat a proper portion. There are two lovely portions left that will top a salad of greens and blue cheese for another meal.
Jacques would love that..
Hi Monique, I think you could please every man in the world if you put steak on their plate for dinner.
Oh yum!! I have said it before and I will say it again… steak, potatoes, and sliced tomatoes would be my “last meal.” And Chimichurri sauce!! I love that. Now I have a serious steak craving at 8:30am!!
Hi Carol, Sorry to make you have a steak craving so early in the day.
What a perfect dinner, I love the twice baked potato. And yes yes yes. Simple simple simple! c
Hi Celi, Thank you for your comment. There is something so good about a twice baked potato.
That steak looks mouth watering and perfectly done too! What did you marinate it in btw? I don’t often make steak since my husband is a vegetarian but next time I do I want one that looks and tastes *the way I imagine* this one does… mmm
Hi Laura, Thank you for your compliment. I marinated the steak with salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, lemon juice, white wine and olive oil for several hours in a ziplock bag…turning often.
I love to have simple meals, especially now that we are feeling some of the pressure of the holiday season (my daughter has a birthday in here, too.) I have never grilled a skirt steak, but I already read about how well the grill up and how tender they can be. Yours looks perfect with a little pink in the middle. I also like that you put horseradish cheddar in your twice baked. I like to make lots of them at once and then I throw them in the freezer for later. They reheat so well and I just love them!
Hi Becki, Thank you for your comment. Skirt steak needs to be marinated for several hours, cooked no more than medium rare and it will be tender and flavorful. The horseradish cheddar in the potato went great with the flavor of the steak.
I do agree with you; I don’t eat steak often but when I do its quality and great taste…and just a small amount I’m after. I just love to have mine with a salad, like you did. Plus, that sauce is to die for!!
Hi Linda, You are so right…a little bit of something good can be so rewarding. Steak goes into that category.
Oh! I haven’t had a twice baked potato in ages. That looks so good! And I’m with you – the simpler the better right now. 🙂
Hi Kristy, I was just on your blog commenting and you were on mine commenting. So funny about the timing. With so much to do this time of the year…simple is really the best.
Chimichuri sauce is one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. Even though I’ve heard people talk about it for years, I made it for the first time this summer and we went wild over it. Plus, this is just what the Doctor ordered, I’ve most certainly had my fill of fowl. And throw in a twice baked potato and I’m smitten. Great post Karen and very timely. 🙂
Hi Lea Ann, Thank you for your lovely compliment. Chimichurri adds to much flavor to so many dishes…I love it.
Can’t beat this meal for simplicity and it looks great. I love flank steak with chimichurri sauce and your recipe looks so good…I will try it the next time I make it.
Thank you Betsy, for your compliment. Simple and so good.
The potato sounds delicious, I’d never thought of adding some horseradish. I know the next time I bake potatoes I’ll be trying that out. Thank you 🙂
Hi Claire, I love the taste of horseridish with rare cooked beef. I thought the addition of the horseradish cheese in the potato would go nicely and it did.
I have a horseradish sauce I love to drizzle over my steak. Generally, I need a bite of good horseradish or blue cheese when eating a great piece of beef, simply cooked.
~Emilie
Hi Emilie, I agree that horseradish goes so well with beef. We have two nice pieces of our steak left that will go on a salad of mixed greens and blue cheese crumbles.
Hello Karen, your way of Simplicity is perfect!
Have a great Weekend!
Hi Eri, Thank you for your nice comment. Have a nice weekend as well.
I love meals like this that are simple, but you’d never know.
Hi Greg, I know what you mean. We tend to post the recipes and meals that we prepare that are more complicated. Steak, potato and salad…you can’t get more simple than that.
Perfect!
Reblogged this on Gary Lum's Blog and website and commented:
I’m not sure what cut we would call skirt steak in Australia. I’d just go for rib eye fillet.
Hi Gary, Sorry I can’t help you with what the cut of beef would be called in Australia…maybe someone else can help.
So colourful and beautifully presented. I bet it tasted as good as it looks!
Hi Laura, Thank you for your nice comment. Yes…it was delicious. A few simple ingredients to bring out the best in each dish made the meal very enjoyable.
Eating at your house is a delight. Thanks for all these wonderful meals!
Hi Lulu, Thank you so much for your very nice compliment. I’m glad you enjoy the meals that I prepare.
“What is easier than a steak, potato and salad.”
Well… if you open a tin of tuna and dump it on a plate that might save a bit of extra time 😀 No seriously though – I totally agree… a good steak, cooked quickly to perfection (because if you’re a rare steak lover then this dish is just perfect for you), a baked potato, some mesclun with a good dressing – you can’t get much more simple and delicious. So good! That twice-baked potato sounds amazing too… I need to experiment more with baked potatoes I think
Hi Charles, I always look forward to your comments because they usually make me laugh. I didn’t think of a can of tuna for my easy dinner.
🙂 Well, if you’re after a cheap meal instead of a fast one, how about a delicious Toast Sandwich… yes folks, British cuisine at it’s finest! I love some of the comments on this page… “how about removing the top slice of bread to make it a scandinavian style open sandwich… make it even cheaper… lololol!
Who needs complicated when simple will more than suffice – and do so deliciously, to boot! And that twice-baked potato is calling my name. OK. Cocktail hour has officially ended. 🙂
Hi John, Thank you for your very nice comment. I love a baked potato but twice baked is twice as good as far as I am concerned.
I always love your recipes–simple and delicious. If only we could get more folks to realize that less IS usually better–and that applies to so many things.
Have a great weekend, Karen!
Hi Sue, Thank you for the lovely compliment. Enjoy your weekend.
The twice baked potatoes sound original and delicious. Your steak looks heavenly. My husband loves skirt steak (I’m not a steak fan, I’d rather make a raw steak tartare with the same cut 😉 ), but we rarely marinate it. I must try your chimichurri sauce. Thanks for this lovely recipe!
Hi Sissi, Thank you for your comment. I think you will like the chimichurri sauce, it is a nice accompaniment for any kind of meat. The twice baked potato is nice to serve when you have company as it can be prepared early and then baked the second time for your meal.
The simplest dinners are sometime that most enjoyable, especially with a good chimichurri sauce.;-) Cheers!
Thank you Jed…I agree with you!
Well, Karen, I think this is the ultimate quick night’s dinner… 30 minutes and you have an outstanding home-made meal fit for a queen (and king). I try to cook like that most nights and love recipes with 5 ingredients or less. I finally now know what a chimichurri sauce is as well! Hope you’re having a very relaxing weekend!
Hi Smidge, Thank you for your nice comment. It is a very quick, delicious dinner.
This looks totally delicious *yum*
I’ll definitely add your chimichurri-sauce to my to-do list – since it doesn’t have any dairy in it, it seems perfect for my lactose-intolerant, but gravy-loving husband 🙂
Hi Kat, Thank you for visiting and your nice comment. The chimichurri sauce goes well on so many meats, bringing out their delicious flavors.
I am beginning to learn how to cook the less well-known cuts of steak and skirt is one of them – this looks delicious !
Hi Carolyn, Thank you for the compliment. Cooked medium rare and sliced thin across the grain is the secret to skirt steak.
Oh your steak came out looking beautiful. I am not a huge steak eater but I would definitely eat this. Amazing post
Hi Babygirl, Thank you for your lovely compliment. I think this is the proper portion size for steak and it is nice and lean but extremely flavorful.
This simply looks amazing!
Hi Barbara, Thank you for stopping by for a visit and your nice compliment.
Karen, what a lovely, simple dinner! The twice-baked potato sounds divine – and I’ve never thought to put horseradish in mine! Very good idea! We’re in the decorating, wrapping presents mode, too!
Hi Phyllis, I think you will enjoy adding horseradish cheese to a twice baked potato when served with a meat dish.
Absolutely delicious! It’s always amazing to me how simple ingredients treated with respect turn out so amazing! Beautifully done!
Hi Ann, Thank you for the compliment.
Seriously one of my all-time favorite meals. Yum!
Hi Courtney, It sounds like everyone loves this simple meal.