Tonight, I threw together a quick, easy and healthy meal in between work and a meeting. Its feeling like summer outside so what better night to fire up the grill? When you grill you keep the calories down but you don’t sacrifice on flavor. It’s a nice night to grill outside and as bathing suit season approaches we can focus on minimizing our intake of pasta, rice, bread, etc. Get creative with some fun yet simple salads.

INGREDIENTS:
– Steak (whatever cut you like- sirloin is great or filet if you want to spend an extra few bucks. Try to keep it lean!)
– 2 zucchini
– 1 lemon
– 1 garlic clove
– Olive oil
– Balsamic vinegar glaze
– Romaine lettuce
– Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper
– Fresh cilantro and parsley

INSTRUCTIONS:

Marinate your steak (for as long as you have but make sure you bring steak to room temperature) in a drizzle of oil, salt, pepper and fresh cilantro.

Cut your zucchini in thin strips (a mandolin would be helpful here- really need to buy one of those!) and place in a tin foil dish you make by folding up the edges. You can place the zucchini directly on the grill but when you cut them this thin it gets messy. Squeeze 1/2 the lemon juice, lemon zest and salt and pepper. Mix well so they are coated. Put the zucchini and steak on the grill.

In a small blender add about 1/4 cup cilantro and parsley with the other 1/2 lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic clove, olive oil, squirt of balsamic glaze, salt, pepper and a pinch full of parmesan cheese. Blend together.

Flip your steak and cook to desired temperature and let rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, wash and chop romaine lettuce and place in bowl. Chop zucchini into bite sized pieces and sprinkle on top. Add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Slice the steak and place on the salad. Spoon the salad dressing over the entire plate.

For a stronger and sweeter flavor, drizzle balsamic glaze on top to finish. This dinner can be thrown together in just 20 minutes and the result is fresh, simple and healthy. The hot zucchini and steak warm the romaine and all the flavors come together in your mouth. You wont miss carbs with this fast weeknight meal!