Chipotle London Broil

 

Chipotle London Broil, originally uploaded by Kate Chan.

Okay – has it really been THAT long since I posted? GOOD GRIEF! The last two weeks of February just about did me in. Between having the flu and waiting for word on the Chicklet’s arrival, I think all of my brain cells were on vacation. It’s *quite* overwhelming this wait. In fact, last Friday I just about broke.

But we humans are much stronger than we ever thought possible. And a new month has begun. Across adoption-waiting Land, a new month means NEW hope for news from the other side of the waiting game. And oh – what I wouldn’t give for a DUE DATE about now!

Thanks for your lovely supportive emails. I’m sorry I haven’t been very good about getting back to all of you as quickly as I would like (either to your fabulous comments or your emails). I promise to get on that. Really. I do.

Last time I posted, I wrote about Gluten Free Grocery Shopping. I didn’t realize how much interest, discussion and emails that one little post would prompt, to be honest. I thought most of us started out by sticking to the foods we could easily identify as being gluten-free rather than risking the box-label-can-prepped nightmare. (Although, I will say that I am mighty glad I was diagnosed in the age of cell phones!)

My sister-in-law was just told she has to be wary of developing Gestational Diabetes and she called me in a bit of a panic. She’s at a complete loss for what she can/cannot eat. We kicked off our conversation talking about snacks and breakfast. She was floored when I told her that I pack a handful of raw almonds for my mid-morning snack or that breakfast can sometimes be a fruit smoothie or a hard boiled egg.

Poor girl. She is struggling with the adjustment of missing out on convenient foods. When she told me that the dietitian recommended that she eat a whole wheat English muffin, she recoiled in horror. Why? Well, according to her, she freaked because her work cafeteria (where everyone picks up bagels for breakfast or sandwiches for lunch) doesn’t carry whole wheat anything.

Yes, you can guess what came out of my mouth next. I proffered that maybe, just maybe she should consider NOT eating in the cafeteria and bringing her lunch OR why not talk to the cafeteria manager and ASK for whole grain items to be served? (Surely she is not the only one who would eat them.)

She was appalled. How could she NOT eat there? What was she to do? Maybe she should pay hundreds of dollars a month for the next 4 months of her pregnancy to a food service that will deliver her meals and snacks to her?

At first, I was stumped. Here was this completely brilliant woman that I admire breaking down and I was stumped. And then I remembered just how much of our lives are truly saturated with food and food choices that are not necessarily healthy for us as a culture – let alone gluten-free for those of us who need it. And what about the nut-free? soy-free? casein-free? yeast-free?

Dang. We are a bunch, aren’t we?

So, it was back to the grocer for me. And my lovely sister-in-law and I are plotting menus together for her to live off of. And I’m trying to think of ways to help her adjust to that immediate loss of simple access and convenience – let alone the giving up of caffeine, sugar, and most carbs too.

We humans get through the tough spots together, huh?
Her with her diet and me with this insufferable wait.

In the meantime, I’m back to shopping the outside of the store. And to show you what kind of meal you can make, check out this one:

Chipotle-Dijon London Broil, sauteed spinach with garlic and mashed potatoes.

(Sadly, the sweet potatoes and yams didn’t look too tasty, so I settled for spuds. If my sister-in-law had been here, we would have gone with the sweet potatoes I just picked up today. OH YEA YUM!)

What is your favorite outside-of-the-grocer meal?
Or better yet – do you have any extreme low-carb, no sugar, low GI snack recommendations for my lovely Sis?
Do share!

Chipotle-Dijon London Broil
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 London Broil (about one and a quarter pound)
1/2 cup dijon mustard (GF)
2 chipotle chiles in adobe (*See note below)
salt/pepper for seasoning

Directions:

  1. Chop the chipotle peppers finely and whisk together with the dijon mustard. Set aside.
  2. Season the beef with salt/pepper.
  3. Turn on the broiler.
  4. Broil the beef to sear it for 3-4 minutes then flip to sear the other side.
  5. Remove from the oven and drizzle half of the chipotle-dijon mixture over the top. Return to the oven and broil for an addition 4 -5 minutes.
  6. Flip and repeat: smear the top with the most of the remaining chipotle-dijon mixture and broil again for 4-6 minutes. (This length of time will produce a medium-rare/rare meat depending on the thickness of your cut. Please be sure to test your meat until you achieve your desired doneness.)
  7. Remove from the oven and allow to rest 6-9 minutes.  (I didn’t let the one above rest long enough, thus the juices are flowing out, sadly.)
  8. Serve with a drizzle of the left of your chipotle-dijon sauce.

*NOTE:  Chipotle peppers in adobo are sold in cans.  Chipotle peppers are just smoked jalapenos.  If you are sensitive to heat, cut the chipotles down to just one or if you like things spicy, add another.

I promise not to be gone so long again….
I really had no idea that I had lost my mind so completely.
Ah well.
Maybe is the pregnancy adoption hormones?
LOL!

Happy Gluten-Free Eating!
~Kate

Comments are closed.