Steak on Bowtie Pasta

With things finally settling back down from the holidays I decided to take a look in my latest copy of Clean Eating magazine for some new dinner ideas. This past weekend I made one of their steak and pasta dishes from the budget section of the Jan/Feb 2010 issue. I don't tend to use cinnamon in savory dishes so I figured it would quite an experiment.

The steak is first chopped up and marinated for at least an hour in some garlic, a few good squirts of Dijon mustard, a little bit of red wine vinegar and cinnamon. I may have added too much cinnamon and vinegar because the meat came out mostly tasting of these flavors so maybe break it up with a little bit of water and only use a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon for a pound of steak. I cooked up a 16 oz bag of bowtie pasta and set it aside for later.

In a saucepan I sautéed mushrooms, some garlic and a chopped up onion until all were a nice golden brown. I set those aside and cooked the steak, discarding the marinade. Once the steak was browned on all sides (about 4 minutes), I added the onion mixture back in with a hefty dose of Italian seasoning and some salt and black pepper. To this I added a can of diced no salt-added tomatoes. I let these cook on medium low for a few minutes to give the spices a chance to blend. I then added about 8 oz of low fat sour cream to make the sauce thicker and creamier. Add to pasta and serve!

I tend to find that steak strips or cubes that are sautéed get over cooked easily so in the future I think I might try seasoning, grilling (in the broiler, maybe) and then chopping up the steak to add on top at the end. I also think this dish would be tasty and easier with chicken strips or tenders. Chicken left to marinate over night seems to give more flavor with salt and vinegar type marinades. The no salt-added tomatoes were not a bad addition but I found that this meant I had to add more of my own salt later on. This is usually better though as I can use sea salt which is not as bad for you and altogether less salt than otherwise.