Winter-Spiced Beef with Tomatoes in Rice

I have to say, I've been loving my allspice jar lately. The smell is just so lovely at this time of year, I kind of want to dump it on everything. So I dumped it on some beef. The flavor profile would probably be better in a nice beef stew, but it was still tasty and definitely interesting. I made the rice to go with it mostly because I had a sad looking tomato on the counter that obviously needed a home. This serves 1.

Ingredients:

small steak

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoon salt

pinch of dried thyme

pinch of pepper

1 tomato

1/4 cup brown basmati rice

pinch of salt

1/4 plus 1/8 cup water

1/4 teaspoon canola oil

you'll also need:

small pot with lid

small non-stick frying pan

cooking spray

paper towel

small bowl

tongs



1. peel the tomato by pouring boiling water over it and letting it sit immersed for a minute, then cooling it with cold water. Remove the peel and dice the tomato.

2. put the rice in the small pot with the water, canola oil, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce to a simmer. 

3. cook the rice for 10 minutes, then stir in the tomato. Reduce the heat slightly to help with the extra liquid, cover, and cook for another 5 minutes. If there is still liquid remaining, uncover the pot, increase the heat, and boil it off, stirring the rice occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Serve the rice when done.





4. meanwhile, mix the allspice, salt, pepper, and thyme together in a small bowl. Pat the beef dry with a paper towel and rub it on both sides with the spice mixture.

5. spray the frying pan with cooking spray and heat it over medium. When it's hot, place the steak in the pan. Cook it until well-seared on the first side and browned at least halfway up the sides. Flip it over with tongs and cook it until it's done to your liking.

6. serve the steak with the rice.

I made this recipe up.