Cuban Braised Beef

For dinner I decided to test out a recipe from Real Simple Magazine. I love this magazine for many reasons, but what I particularly appreciate about their recipe ideas is how simple they are and that they use very few and basic ingredients, so you don't always need to run to the store just to make a meal. I buy my meat at Costco, which means I get huge quantities at a time. This was quite serendipitous as the July issue of Real Simple Magazine had a spread on 10 ideas for: flank steak.

This recipe for Cuban braised beef was so simple it literally took me 5 minutes to prepare. Because of it's simplicity, I wasn't expecting much out of it, but I was very very pleasantly surprised by how it turned out. Husband was literally swooning over it! After dinner he requested that I put it into the regular rotation.

I highly recommend this magazine to any housewife, homemaker or cook, newbie or seasoned. I know I have overused this word in this post, but everything in there is Really that Simple!

Cuban Braised Beef (adapted from Real Simple Magazine - July 2010)
(serves 4)
1. In a large saucepan (I used a Le Creuset), combine 1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes, 1 1/2 pounds of flank steak (cut in half), 1 large onion (cut into wedges), and 1 1/2 teaspoons of chili powder
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Cover and simmer until fork-tender (about 1.5-2 hours)
4. Shred and serve with rice and cilantro leaves.

The original recipe suggests serving with cut-up mango slices on top, but I'm not a fan of fruit in my warm entrees. Instead I added slices of red bell pepper in step 1.