Classic Filet Kebabs with Cucumber Feta Sauce and Another $100 Visa Giftcard Giveaway

It has been a week of BEEF at my house. I have been reading up about lean cuts of beef and deciding which recipes to make next with the beef recipe search. As part of the Lean Meat Match-Up and in conjunction with the Beef It's What's For Dinner people, I chose Classic Filet Kebabs with Cucumber Feta Sauce as my second recipe to prepare this week.

The result....another delicious recipe! It contained all the necessary components of a recipe I will definitely make again.

1. Easy to prepare
2. Delicious
3. A little out of the ordinary
4. Can be served for a weeknight dinner or to dinner guests on the weekend

After quickly marinating the filet and vegetables, I skewered and grilled the kebabs for about 10 minutes. In that time, I combined the ingredients for the sauce and sliced some crusty bread to go along with the meal. I loved cool cucumber sauce spiked with salty feta cheese paired with the charred filet. The sauce was so tasty that I will be making it again to serve with cut up vegetables. Not a complaint from the family on this meal; no leftovers were to be found.

Besides a new recipe to try, I will also be awarding another great prize. As part of the Lean Meat Match-Up, I am giving away some cool swag. To participate in the random drawing for a $100 Visa giftcard, an insulated shopping tote and an I Love Beef apron, fill out the Lean Cut Match-Up questionnaire. Leave a comment by 12 pm EST on August 22 on this post as to which cut of lean meat matches up with your family. Be sure to leave your email so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner.

By the way, using a RANDOM.ORG, a true random service, a winner was chosen for the first swag giveaway. Congratulations to Deanna G!!!!

Now get off to the store to pick up the ingredients for Classic Filet Kebabs with Cucumber Sauce. You still have time to make them for dinner.

Classic Filet Kebabs with Cucumber Feta Sauce
adapted from a recipe on the Beef It's What's For Dinner website

1 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin steaks, cut 1 inch thick
2 medium red, yellow or green bell peppers, cut into 1-inch pieces
8 shallots - cut in half if large
Salt
Bamboo or metal skewers

Rub --
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce --
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup finely chopped seeded cucumber
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt

Cut beef steak into 1-1/4-inch pieces. Combine seasoning ingredients in large bowl. Add beef, shallots and bell pepper pieces; toss to coat.

Alternately thread beef and vegetable pieces evenly onto eight 12-inch metal skewers, leaving small spaces between pieces.

Place kabobs on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill kabobs, covered, 7 to 9 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, covered, 9 to 11 minutes) for medium rare (140°F) to medium (150°F) doneness, turning once. Season kebabs with salt, as desired.

Meanwhile, combine sauce ingredients in small bowl. Serve with kebabs.

Print recipe

Disclosure: The Beef Association and the Beef Checkoff provided the swag bags mentioned above for this giveaway. Dinners for a Year and Beyond was also compensated with a giftcard to help offset the costs of groceries related to recipes being prepared for these blog posts as well as shipping costs associated with mailing prizes to the winners. The recipes were also provided by the Beef Checkoff.

Succulent Filet in a Field of Greens

I am participating in the Beef It's What's For Dinner Lean Cut Match-Up this week. After being contacted by the Beef people, I was to prepare a couple recipes, review the results and give away some cash and prizes. What's not to like?!

I completed the Lean Cut Match-Up questionnaire, and I found out that the perfect lean meat for our family's lifestyle is Filet Mignon. Yum! Freaky how those questionnaires get something like that right. Tonight I prepared Succulent Filet in a Field of Greens and the recipe did not disappoint.

The meal fit with our typical dinner eating style; it had something for everyone. My Middle One loved the garlicky rub on the filet while hardly a word was heard from My Oldest as she devoured the filet and mushrooms. I enjoyed the combination of the warm mushrooms with the cool salad greens along with the charred filet. No Thank You Boy said no thank you to the vegetable portion of the meal and stuck to his typical meal of .... meat. No complants from him. As The Husband was not arriving from the West Coast until late, he will be enjoying his dinner for lunch tomorrow.

I particularly liked that the meal was impressive yet so easy to prepare. It could be served at an elegant dinner party with your guests thinking you spent all day preparing the meal.

To participate in the random drawing for a $100 Visa giftcard, an insulated shopping tote and an I Love Beef apron, fill out the Lean Cut Match-Up questionnaire. Leave a comment by 12 pm EST on August 19 on this post as to which cut of lean meat matches up with your family. Be sure to leave your email so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner.


One winner will be chosen from this post. But if you don't win here, come back later this week to enter again for another chance to win!

Succulent Filet in a Field of Greens

recipe adapted from the Beef It's What's For Dinner website

4 beef tenderloin (filet) steaks, cut 1 inch thick
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
1 teaspoon chopped dried thyme
4 cups assorted wild mushrooms (such as cremini, oyster, shiitake, enoki and morel)
2 cups red and/or yellow cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil vinaigrette
Salt and pepper
4 cups mixed baby salad greens

Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Add mushrooms and 1 teaspoon garlic; cook and stir 6 to 8 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and browned. Remove to medium bowl; cool slightly.

Meanwhile, combine remaining 2 teaspoons garlic, thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teapoon pepper. Press evenly onto beef steaks. Place steaks in same skillet or grill pan over medium heat; cook 10 to 13 minutes for medium rare (140°F) to medium (150°F) doneness, turning once. Remove to platter.

Add tomatoes, salad greens and vinaigrette to mushrooms; toss lightly to coat.

Season steaks with salt and pepper, as desired. Serve with salad.

Print recipe

Disclosure: The Beef Association and the Beef Checkoff provided the swag bags mentioned above for this giveaway. Dinners for a Year and Beyond was also compensated with a giftcard to help offset the costs of groceries related to recipes being prepared for these blog posts as well as shipping costs associated with mailing prizes to the winners. The recipes were also provided by the Beef Association.

Lean Beef Week - Beef It's What's For Dinner and a $100 Visa Card Giveaway

It's BEEF Week at our house.

I was contacted by the National Beef Cattleman's Association and in conjunction with their Beef It's What's For Dinner website to participate in their Lean Cut Match-Up. We will be eating BEEF for dinner this week and reporting back on the recipes we have tried. And 2 lucky readers will each be receiving a swag bag including a $100 Visa Giftcard, an insulated and reusable shopping tote, and a I Love Lean Beef apron. Yea!!



First up for the Lean Cut Match-Up, I filled out the Lean Cut Match-Up questionnaire to match my family with the lean cut of beef that fits our lifestyle. I was happy to hear we are a Filet Mignon type of family. I typically buy a whole beef tenderloin when it is on sale (at the very affordable price of $5.99 per pound) and either cut it into individual filet mignons or roast or grill it whole. I will be preparing 2 recipes using filet mignon this week from the Beef It's What's For Dinner website.

To join in the BEEF Week fun, visit the Interactive Meat Case on the Beef It's What's For Dinner website to learn more about the variety of nutritious and satisfying beef cuts available, plus find cut descriptions, recipes, cooking tips and more. I enjoyed perusing this feature of the site because I get in a cooking rut sometimes and it introduced me to some new cuts of meat and recipes to try with them.

During the week, I will be posting the recipes I have prepared and my family's review of them. To participate in each of the giveaways, after each of my posts about the recipes I have made, fill out the Lean Cut Match-Up questionnaire and leave a comment on which cut of lean meat matches up with your family. One winner will be chosen each of the 2 days to receive the swag bag. So check back this week to enter the giveaway.

Let the BEEF Week begin!!

Disclosure: The Beef Association and the Beef Checkoff provided the swag bags mentioned above for this giveaway. Dinners for a Year and Beyond was also compensated with a giftcard to help offset the costs of groceries related to recipes being prepared for these blog posts as well as shipping costs associated with mailing prizes to the winners. The recipes were also provided by the Beef Checkoff.

Fried Rice - Very Veggie with Chicken

I am not a last minute type of gal when it comes to dinner. I cook most weekdays for my personal chef clients. And even though I love to cook, I like to plan out a few meals on a Sunday afternoon so that during the week I barely need to think when I cook dinner for my family.

I like dinners that I can make ahead of time and can be reheated when I am ready to serve it. And if they don't taste like a reheated dinner, that is even better. One such dish is Fried Rice - Very Veggie with Chicken. I did my best to replicate the fried rice you can get at your favorite Chinese restaurant. Only my recipe has about a third of the fat and calories but still all the tasty fried rice flavor.

Fried Rice - Very Veggie with Chicken is a favorite at my house. So much so that No Thank You Boy (who has decided he is no longer No Thank You Boy and would like a new name) took a thermos full to lacrosse camp today. After making dinner late yesterday afternoon, I left the wok on the stove top and everyone served and reheated their fried rice as they got home. I was hoping for lots of leftovers, but that did not happen.

If you are feeling like you want an even healthier version of Fried Rice - Very Veggie with Chicken, prepare it with brown rice. You will love it just the same.

Fried Rice - Very Veggie with Chicken
makes about 8 cups

4 eggs, beaten
3 teaspoons soy sauce or tamari, divided
2 teaspoons sesame oil, divided
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1 pound of chicken tenderloins, cut in very small pieces
2 cups crimini mushrooms, chopped small
4 cups cabbage and carrot slaw mix
4 cups of cooked long grain rice, cooled and refrigerated
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 green onions, sliced (about 1/4 cup)

In a small bowl combine eggs and 1 teaspoon soy sauce. Set aside.

Add 1 teaspoon sesame oil into a wok or large skillet. Preheat over medium heat. Add garlic and egg mixture and stir gently to scramble. When set, remove egg mixture from the wok. Cut up any large pieces of egg mixture. Set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil into the wok or skillet and heat to high heat. Add the chicken, 2 teaspoons of soy sauce and cook, stirring occasionally until just cooked through, about 4 - 5 minutes. Remove from wok and set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil into the wok or skillet and heat to high heat. Add the mushrooms and the cabbage and carrot mix, stirring occasionally until just beginning to softened, about 3 - 4 minutes. Add cooked rice and peas. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Cook and stir for 2 - 3 minutes or until heated through. Add cooked egg mixture, cooked chicken, and green onions and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil; cook and stir about 1 minute more or until heated through.