This is the second to the last meal I will be cooking for a while.  The good news is that they called today and I am first.  That means getting to the hospital by 5:00 AM.  I will be all the way through surgery by the time I am usually getting up.  I will be sleep walking through the morning.  

I don’t fix many beef meals.  They seem un creative to me.  Jim would rather die than put a sauce on his precious meat.  This appealed to me do to the chow mien noodles and the canned mandarin oranges.  It was delicious.  This recipe is from WW weekly.

Ingredients:

3 medium garlic cloves minced

1/4 C rice wine vinegar (It will be called Mirin in the oriental section of the grocery.) 

1/4 C low-sodium soy sauce

1 1/2 T peanut oil

1 T hosing sauce

1# lean trimmed sirloin beef

8 C canned unsweetened mandarin oranges, drained (no sugar added)

1/2 C packaged chow mein noodles

lettuce of your choice 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl or plastic bag, combine garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, oil, and Hoisin sauce; add steak.  Marinate in refrigerator for 2-4 hours, or up to overnight.  
2. Remove steak to a plate; reserve marinade.  
3. Preheat grill or broiler.  Grill or broil steak for 8 minutes on each side for medium or longer until desired degree of doneness.  (I grilled it to medium rare using and instant read thermistor in a stove topped grill.)
4. Meanwhile pour reserved marinade into a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil; cook stirring occasionally, 1 minute more.  
5. To serve, place 2 C of mixed greens on each of 4 plates.  Top each with about 3 oz. of steak, 1/4 C or oranges and 1 heaping tablespoon of noodles; drizzle each salad with about 1 1/2 T of cooked and cooled marinade.  

The recipe serves 4.  I made 2 plates of Romaine lettuce.  I followed the above directions for my plate and gave Jim the rest.  I could see this as a wonderful outdoor summertime meal for company.  Start with a cold soup, maybe follow with a small appetizer size fancy shrimp or scallop  and add a dessert.  I hope I can remember this this summer.  

This was our Valentine's day meal as I will be in the hospital on Valentines day getting my left knee replaced.  They recommend a bland meal the night before the surgery.  Jim brought a special Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 called Raymond, reserved.  He liked the red suede finish on the label.  It reminded me of an Elvis painting on Velvet.  It tasted great.