TriathlEats: Marinated Flank Steak

Zest up your fall menu with this protein-packed dish from triathlete-chef Eric Hollandsworth.

Ingredients

For beef flank steak:
1–2-pound flank steak
1¼ cup orange juice
½ cup lemon juice
1/3 cup lime juice
¼ cup soy sauce
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium yellow onion, sliced

For chipotle vinaigrette:
3 T red wine vinegar
2½ T honey
¼ tsp ground cumin
1 chipotle chili in adobo
¼ tsp black pepper
¾ tsp salt
1/3 cup olive oil
1 garlic clove

For kale quinoa salad:
4 cups kale, de-ribbed and sliced into ½-inch pieces
1 cup quinoa, cooked
½ cup red pepper, julienned
½ cup carrots, julienned
½ cup black beans
½ cup grape tomatoes, halved
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, cut into ¼-inch cubes

Directions

To prepare the flank steak, combine all marinade ingredients and pour over steak. Let marinate for 12 hours. Remove from marinade, dry and grill over medium-high heat for 3–4 minutes per side, or until desired doneness. Remove meat from grill and allow to rest for five minutes. Slice meat against the grain into ¼-inch slices. Place all chipotle vinaigrette ingredients in a blender and purée until smooth. Toss all salad ingredients except for avocado in large mixing bowl with ¼ cup vinaigrette and mix well. Top salad with slices of flank steak and avocado.

Chef Eric Hollandsworth likes to eat this dish as a pre-race meal not only for its great flavor, but because it’s also well-balanced—it contains high-quality protein from the steak, carbs and protein from the quinoa plus antioxidant vitamins from superfood kale.

RELATED RECIPE: Grilled Sirloin And Avocado Tacos

Meet the Triathlete-Chef

A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Eric Hollandsworth is the executive chef of Artie’s in Fairfax, Va., which serves classic American cuisine (think crab cakes, chicken paillard and ribeye). His favorite part of the job? Experimenting with food to create new menu items. “I like playing with food,” he says. Hollandsworth grew up swimming competitively and then became a cross-country mountain bike racer, and he’s now in his second season of competing in triathlons. So far, he’s stuck to sprint and Olympic-distance races in the mid-Atlantic region, but he’s hoping to step up to a half-Ironman in 2015. “I’m just nervous about the half-marathon run,” he says. Since starting triathlon, he’s found that his diet has become healthier. “I enjoy cooking great-tasting food that is loaded with flavor but won’t hurt my training diet,” he says.

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