Magic Steak Bowls with Lemon Turmeric Dressing

This magic steak bowl has it all – juicy flank steak, flavorful roasted veggies, acidic pickled purple cabbage, fluffy quinoa, all tossed in a addictively delicious lemon turmeric vinaigrette. It’s a vibrant, flavorful, and super healthy dish.

There are 2 things you need to know about this recipe:

1. It’s addictively delicious. 

Like seriously, amazing. Lick you bowl good!!! I’ve been eating it all week. I just can’t get enough of it.

There are so many great, fun flavors going on in this bowl. Juicy steak in a sweet and sour marinade. Creamy avocados. Tangy pickled cabbage. Crunchy, seasoned roasted veggies. Fluffy quinoa. All topped with a fresh, vibrant lemon turmeric dressing.

All the flavors come together to create this perfect, harmonious bite.

It’s truly magic. Hence the name!

But there is one other thing you need to know about this dish.

2. There are quite a few steps to make it. 

But please please please (yes, I’m begging a little) don’t let that deter you from making this dish.

Remember us just talking about how delicious this dish is. You don’t want to miss out on all that deliciousness.

And here’s the deal. Yes, there are quite a few steps you have to do to make each component of this dish. BUT, once you have each part of the bowl done, you can store all of the components separately in the fridge and then make the bowl in seconds all week.

So one day of hard work equals fresh, delicious meals all week. Really, it’s a no brainer. You need to make this bowl!

Plus, I will show you how to easily make each component, so it’ll be easy peasy.

Let’s get to cooking.

Marinated Flank Steak

(if you are a vegetarian and don’t want meat in your dish, you can skip this step).

Flank steak is one of my favorite steak’s. . It’s relatively cheap, super flavorful, and easy to cook.

The key to making a great flank steak is marinating it to help tenderize the meat and impart flavor.

I used an asian inspired marinade for the steak in this dish. It’s got soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey and brown sugar, olive oil, lemon juice, a touch of sesame oil, and fresh garlic and ginger. It’s sweet, salty, sour, and a touch spicy. Simply whisk all of the ingredients together and pour over the seasoned flank steak (a salt and peppered steak).

There are two things I recommend doing to achieve the best, most tender steak.

First, before pouring the marinade over the steak, I recommend pounding out the steak with a meat mallet to make sure the steak is even sized and to help tenderize the meat.

Also, marinating the steak in the fridge overnight. The longer the marinade stays on the steak, the more the steak absorbs all those delicious, asian flavors. It also helps break down some of the collagen in the meat, which again helps us get a very tender piece of steak.

Once the steak is done marinating, take it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature (so let it sit out on the counter for about a half an hour). This is also a key step. The meat will cook more evenly if the steak is at room temperature. And let’s be real, no one wants to bite into a beautifully grilled piece of meat only to find that the inside is cold! No way!

Heat about a generous amount of olive oil in a cast iron skillet. Once the pan starts to smoke, add the steak and cook for 4 minutes per side (this is for medium rare). Take the steak off the heat and allow to rest for ten minutes. If you cut right into a hot steak, it will make all the juices run and leave you with a tough piece of meat. You want to let the steak to rest before cutting so the juices redistribute and do not run out when you cut it.

Last step! Cut your perfectly grilled and rested steak into thin strips.

Roasted Veggies

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. On a sheet pan, add sweet potato fries and broccolini. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and your favorite seasonings. I used a generous amount of garlic and onion powder and a touch of paprika. But this part is totally customizable. Just use what ever spices are your favorites and in your pantry.

I chose sweet potatoes because they are my favorite. They also add some sweetness to the dish and a healthy starch. You can also use regular potatoes if you prefer (that’s how my husband likes it and it’s also very delicious. I can’t get him on the sweet potato bandwagon, but I’m working on it!).

I also invited broccolini to add a green, healthy beauty to the party. Plus, the thick, more abundant florets of the broccolini get nice and charred in the oven for a delicious crispy bite and it also helps soak up the delicious dressing.

Roast the veggies for about 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through. You know they are done when both veggies start to achieve a golden brown crust. Yum!

Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette

This dressing helps bring the dish all together and add some fresh, vibrant pizzaz to the dish!

It’s the easiest part of the dish to make. Simply add all of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until it all comes together.

The dressing is sweet and tangy from the honey/agave and lemon. It’s also got this beautifully earthy, slightly spicy quality from the turmeric. And the touch of sesame oil and this unexpected smoky flavor to the dressing. It really helps bring the dish to life and make it MAGIC!

Pickled Purple Cabbage

Ok, I know by now your thinking, do I really need to make the pickled purple cabbage? I probably can just skip it. I’ve done enough for this bowl.

But don’t! The purple cabbage is a necessary part of this beautiful bowl.

First, it adds this gorgeous purple color that makes the bowl pop. And you eat with your eyes first, so creating a pretty dish is important.

Also, it provides an acidic, crunchy, sweet and sour bite that brings the whole dish together.

My husband seriously doubted the pickled purple cabbage (say that 5 times fast 🙂 at first, but now request it on everything. It’s so good!

And I just love anything pickled. It adds an acidic, sort of funky, and sweet flavor unlike anything else.

To pickle the cabbage, bring rice wine vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and picking spices to a bowl and allow to softly boil for 2-3 minutes. Using a sieve to catch the pickling spices, pour the liquid over thinly sliced cabbage. Allow the mix to come to room temperature and then store in the fridge.

This is a step you can do with the steak marinade (the night before) so you have less work to do the next day.

The Bowl

You guys! We made it! It’s time to put our beautiful, delicious creation together.

I laid down some arugula first, then I arranged each component in its own little nook in the bowl. Finally, I topped with the pickled purple cabbage in the middle and then drizzled with the dressing.

Behold this healthy, textured, flavorful-bomb, colorful delight!

Take a bite…..and taste the magic!

I kind of felt like a mad scientist putting this dish together. I was craving a healthy, bowl-like meal and sort of crazily selected items in my pantry to craft my creation. I used my favorite flavors (that asian sweet, spicy, salty, sour thang) and some of my fav foods (sweet potatoes, anything pickled, and steak).  It may all sounds random and crazy, but oohhh does it work together to make something truly special.

While making this rather involved dish, you may have doubted starting the process in the first place. But once you take a bite, you will be glad you started this journey. And you will make this again and again! I promise! It’s MAGIC 🙂

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Magic Steak Bowl with Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette

This steak magic bowl has it all - juicy flank steak, flavorful roasted veggies, acidic pickled purple cabbage, fluffy quinoa, and all tossed in a addictively delicious lemon turmeric vinaigrette. It's a vibrant, flavorful, and healthy dish.

Course Main Course

Keyword bowl, healthy, steak

Servings 4

Ingredients

Marinated Flank Steak.

• 1 pound flank steak
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• ½ cup soy
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon fresh minced ginger
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• Salt and pepper
• pinch red pepper flakes more or less depending on your spice preference

Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cilantro
• 1/4 cup mint
• Juice of one lemon
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons agave or honey
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• Salt and pepper to taste

Pickled Purple Cabbage

• ½ cup rice wine vinegar
• ½ cup water
• 2 T cane sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 T pickling spices
• 1 cup thinly slicked cabbage

Roasted Veggies

• 1 large sweet potato cut into fries
• 1 bundle broccolini
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt pepper, and favorite seasoning

Bowl

• Marinated flank steak cooked and sliced
• 1/2 cup pickled cabbage
• 1/4 cup lemon turmeric vinaigrette
• 1 cup arugula
• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa

Instructions

1. Marinade Flank Steak. Combine all marinade ingredients. Pound out flank steak so it is even and tenderized and salt and pepper. Add steak to ziplock mag and pour marinade over steak. Make sure steak is evenly coated in the marinade. Allow to marinade for 4 hours or up to overnight.
2. Cook the Flank Steak. Once marinated, take the steak out of fridge and let it come to room temperature. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in cast iron skillet and allow to get hot (the pan should start to slightly smoke). Cook flank steak for 4 minutes per side. Take off heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Cut into thin strips against the grain.
3. Lemon Turmeric Vinaigrette. In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients until well blended. Set aside.
4. Pickled Cabbage. Bring all of the ingredients except cabbage to a boil and let boil for 2-3 minutes so pickling spices can infuse into the liquid. Place cabbage in a bowl. Strain pickling liquid over cabbage. Bring to room temperature then move to fridge. Allow pickled cabbage to sit in fridge for at least an hour before serving.
5. Roasted Veggies. Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss sweet potato fries and broccoli with olive oil, salt and pepper, and favorite seasonings. Roast for 25-30 minutes, flipping half way through.
6. Bowl. In 2 medium sized bowls, arrange the arugula, quinoa, roasted veggies, flank steak around the bowl, so each ingredient has its own section. Drizzle over desires amount of vinaigrette. Top with pickled cabbage.

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