1 Pan Cubed Steak Meal

My mother-in-law bought some cubed steak and threw it in the freezer. I decided to give it a whirl...not a cut of meat I would normally purchase, but I figured it can't be that hard to use, right? I also had a zucchini our neighbor brought over from his garden and I definitely did not want to waste homegrown goodness!

Growing up in the south we breaded and fried everything. I ate lots of cubed steak growing up....dusted in flour, salt and pepper then cooked in a pan full of butter or vegetable oil until tender and soaked in oil. And then it gets even better when you make a pan gravy from the drippings and pour right on top of that fried cube steak, YUMMY! But not so good for my waist line so that is the real reason I don't purchase cubed steak.

My father-in-law is on the Scarsdale Diet and since I do the cooking around our house I decided to find a diet friendly way to prepare this meat....he's a meat eater, BIG fan of meat so this meal pleased his tummy.

2 portions of cubed steak (my package was about .8 lbs)
small onion, sliced into rings
zucchini, diced in 1 inch cubes
Worcestershire sauce
Dijon mustard
salt and pepper, to taste
cooking spray

I lightly sprayed the bottom of a non-stick fry pan with a touch of cooking spray, heated the pan to medium high and seasoned both sides of the meat with salt and pepper. Placed my meat into the hot pan and browned each side (only browned, you're not trying to cook it through). Once brown, remove steak from your pan and place on a plate that can collect the juices that will pool while the meat rests.

After removing the steak from the pan, add onions and zucchini and season to taste with salt and pepper. Since we're not using a fat to cook the veggies, you will need to add some water to keep your pan and food from becoming a charred mess. While your veggies are cooking, slather 1 tsp Dijon mustard on each steak (this will help to evenly distribute the mustard when you add the steak back to the pan). Cook until onions and zucchini are just becoming tender.

Place steak in the pan and add all juices from the plate. Add 2tsp Worcestershire sauce to the pan and cook until veggies and meat are cooked through (5 minutes or so depending on thickness of steak). You may continue to add water here to ensure even mixture of sauce.

I served this with a side salad and it made a quick, easy and tasty dinner! I was happy to find another diet dish to add to my favorites menu.