Simple Philly Cheese Steaks (Gluten Free)

My best friend just moved to Philadelphia.  I keep pretending it's not true and that she's just on vacation.  But she really did move to Philadelphia.  I would say this Philly Cheese Steak recipe is in honor of her, except she's a vegetarian!

As it's summer, we are generally just eating steak on the grill, but I wanted to try something different, and the Mister has been all about provolone cheese as of recent.

Before you start cooking, throw your steak (mine was a 'first cut' of top round steak) in the freezer for 45 minutes- this will allow you to cut it really thin later.  Also, if you're using Gluten Free buns, get them out of the freezer to thaw.  I used Udi's hot dog rolls, which are not my favorite hot dog rolls because they're really bready, but they make great mini hoagie rolls.

Start by chopping a bell pepper and half a yellow onion really thin.  We got new knives as a wedding gift, so now I can chop REALLY thinly.  Throw it in a pan (if it's not non-stick, add a little oil) and sauté over medium until soft and starting to caramelize.

While the veggies cook, get your steak out of the freezer and slice it extremely thinny against the grain.  Your fingers will be FREEZING by the time you're done, but hey, it's summer, that's a good thing!  Push your veggies to the edge of the pan and crank the heat up to high.  Add your steak, season with salt and pepper, and do not touch it for at least a minute!  You want it to brown.  Unfortunately, I used too small of a pan, so my steak really steamed, but YOU could use a bigger pan! (PLEASE use a bigger pan!)

Start to stir it around and flip it, but don't stir to much, as you do really want browning.  When it's nearly cooked through, turn off the heat, lay slices of provelone over the top, and cover for a few minutes.  Your cheese will get all melty and yummy.

Serve on toasted hoagie or hot dog rolls.  If you're using hot dog rolls, plan for two per person.

I ate mine with mustard and pickles, and the Mister smothered his in barbecue sauce- so do whatever feels right to you :-).  Enjoy!

The Short Version:

Serves 2-3
Ingredients:

1 thin steak (enough to feed 2-3 people, whatever that means to you)
1 bell pepper
1/2 a yellow onion
4 slices provolone cheese
salt and pepper
Udi's gluten free hot dog rolls

How to:
1. Put your steak in the freezer for about 45 minutes.
2. Thinly slice the bell pepper and onion.  Sauté  over medium heat for 5-7 minutes.
3. Thinly slice the steak against the grain.  Push veggies to side of pan and turn up the heat to high.
4.  Add steak to center of pan, season with salt and pepper.  Let cook for about a minute without stirring, then stir and flip occasionally until nearly cooked.
5. Turn off heat.  Lay cheese slices over meat and cover the pan for a few minutes.
6. Serve on toasted rolls.

Cheeesburger Rice Bowls (Gluten Free)

The Mister and I are both on vacation this week, so I've been too lazy to get to the grocery store.  That means that we've been doing the important work of eating through what is in our fridge, pantry, and freezer.  It's amazing how many meals you can still make when you think you are 'out of' food!

This cheeseburger rice bowl is the perfect clean-out-the-fridge meal, because you can add whatever you like and have on hand to it!  Pictured at left is mine, with lots of spinach, onions, mustard, and relish.   These are inspired by the Mister's favorite 'fast food' chain- Boloco, which is sort of like Chipotle, but has lots of other 'flavor palettes' besides Mexican.  At Boloco, you can get anything you want as a burrito or a rice bowl, and man does the Mister love a rice bowl!

The mister's was just rice, a cheeseburger, ketchup, and pickles- just the way he likes it!

We started with a pound of nice organic ground beef.  (Actually, we started by frantically defrosting said ground beef in cold water- because we were hungry and it was still frozen!).  I mushed it up, added salt and pepper, and made three generous hamburger patties.  I then sent the mister out to the deck to grill them, since he's on vacation and thus home!

While he did that, I cooked up rice (we used boil-in-bag- try not to judge us) and prepared the condiments and veggies.  I chopped spinach and onions, because it's what I had, but tomatoes would be great too!

I originally was going to add shredded cheddar cheese to the bowls, but the Mister really wanted melted cheese, so we went with American cheese right on the burgers.  These burgers took about 15 minutes on the grill.

Then, all that's left to do is assemble your rice bowl with whatever veggies and condiments you like best- enjoy!

The short version:

Serves 2-3

1 pound ground beef
salt and pepper
cheese slices of your choice
veggies- chopped
rice (about a cup dry)- cooked however you please
condiments

Season the ground beef and form patties (3-4).  Throw them on the grill to cook.  Meanwhile, cook rice and chop veggies.  Flip burgers, cook a few more minutes and then add cheese.  Assemble the bowl to your liking!