Steak and Potatoes, the "diet food" way

Lifetime is airing a new cooking show called "Cook Yourself Thin" which shows you how to make all of the foods you love, but in a healthier, lighter and even tastier variation. The idea is that if you can make your favorite foods healthier, then you can stick with changes and therefore see long-term results. Intrigued by this idea, I have decided to give it a shot. There are a ton of recipes on their website already that I really want to try, so it should keep me preoccupied for awhile. Here, I'm going to review a few of the recipes and provide some additional insight and modifications that I did.

Side note: It seems like all I ever write about on here is food, but I'm not sure I am quite ready to bite the bullet and pronounce it a food blog, per say. *shrug* Anyway, on with the deliciousness!

Look Ma, Steak and Mashed Potatoes!

Last night I tried the Steak and Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes. I am pretty sure that I am not eating the right serving size of the potatoes, so I need to measure it and figure it out instead of just slapping two heaping spoon fulls on my plate. It doesn't matter what diet you are on if you ignore portion control. Keep that in mind when you are preparing any Cook Yourself Thin recipes.

LEVEL: Easy, 1hr
This recipe was very easy to prepare, though a bit longer than a recipe I make reguarly. The food processor we have is apparently not very powerful nor big, so I ended up dividing the cauliflower into about 4 different batches. Next time I will put everything into the blender, which should save some time. I also had to cut the flank steak in half because it was too large to fit in my skillet, which also added some minutes. Without those issues, it would have been a more reasonable 30-40 minutes.

I attempted to make the balsamic sauce, but it didn't quite work out in my skillet (let's just say I am glad the fire alarm didn't sound). Instead, I took the juices from the meat and poured them into a small cup and mixed in a little balsamic vinegar and the tiniest drop of olive oil. Whisked it all together with a fork and stuck it in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds. I also used dried rosemary for the salt rub because I don't keep any fresh herbs in the house. I also did not want to have half a head of cauliflower go bad, so I doubled the potatoes recipe and omitted the buttermilk. I also skipped the cherry tomatoes mostly because I just forgot about them and didn't get any in the store.

TASTE: Delicious
Okay, so the potatoes were not quite the same, but it was not necessarily a bad thing. It had the same creamy texture with mashed potatoes, and the hint of butter, scallions, salt and pepper actually flavored it really well. I also sprinkled a tiny bit of shredded cheddar cheese on top (approx 2tsp). The steak was fantastic, but if you don't like medium rare steak you may want to cook it longer. I am typically an A1 girl, but it is seriously not necessary - the rosemary, salt and pepper seasoned perfectly. I typically add garlic to everything, so it was with great restraint that I did not add any garlic in the potatoes or steak, but I may try it next time. I wanted my initial trial to be consistent with the recipe as much as possible, though on the show they encourage you to change the spices out to your favorites and play with some new ones.

OVERALL: Success
Hey, even the hubby liked it, and he doesn't usually like "diet food." He has said before that I can make whatever I need to and he can fend for himself, but I think it's important for him to eat healthy too, even if he doesn't have any extra pounds to lose. My gut (no pun intended) is that most people wouldn't realize it was supposed to be diet food. Now, if I can just make sure to follow the recommended serving sizes I may get somewhere with this.