Easy (Healthy?) Weeknight Dinner

These days as a new parent, dinner prep has taken on a whole new meaning ... I so appreciate a meal that is easy and quick to prepare. If the majority of it can come from the freezer or pantry, then that gets extra gold stars for ease.

(Sidenote: our daughter is four weeks old today, and I just realized I haven't yet had to brave the grocery store with her! Thank you to a great husband and mom who have done the shopping for me or allowed me to scoot out between nursing sessions.)

Camille has been on a sleep schedule for about a week and a half now, which allows a little more prep time for dinner. This meal was so easy to put together and it was quite tasty!

Seared Steak with Boursin, Tuscan White Beans, and Roasted Haricots Verts

What You'll Need

Steaks (we used filets we had in the freezer)

Boursin Cheese

Can of Cannellini Beans

Green Beans (I thawed frozen beans, you could use fresh also)

Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper

You'll want to start by making the Tuscan white beans since they take the longest. Cannellini beans are my favorite white bean. I used canned this time but I also love buying them dried (which is super economical and just takes a little more prep time to soak them overnight). If canned, give them a really good rinsing in a colander until there are no more bubbles. I'll give you one good guess what those bubbles lead to -- so rinse them well. Then, I just add them to a small pot along with a few tablespoons of water and a tablespoon of olive oil. Bring to a boil and then simmer. Add in to the pot a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and some salt and pepper. I cook mine for about 45 minutes or until the water has mostly evaporated and they get nice and creamy.

The beans and steaks can be cooked simultaneously since they take about the same amount of time to cook. I absolutely adore roasted green beans. After thawing two large handfuls of frozen green beans and drying them off with paper towels, I tossed them lightly in olive oil and sprinkled on some salt and cracked black pepper. In the oven these went at 400 degrees. From time to time, rotate them around on the baking sheet. Mine cooked for about 10 minutes -- you'll want to take them out when they start getting nice and browned.

Now, the pièce de résistance -- the steaks. 

I wanted to cook these indoors and get a nice crunch on the outside. After seasoning the filets with salt and pepper on each side, I heated two tablespoons of butter in a cast iron skillet until nice and hot. You will simply sear each side of the steak until brown and crispy, about 2-3 minutes. Then you'll just slip the whole cast iron skillet into that 400 degree oven that's cooking your green beans and cook until desired doneness on the inside. I cooked ours for about 6 minutes, but I'll decrease that time the next time I make these unless I'm using thicker steaks. They were still delicious, but I wanted a tad more pink in the inside.

Once out of the oven, top with a spoonful of Boursin cheese (I used the garlic herb version) and watch it melt right off of that yummy steak.

Such an easy meal, and dare I call it healthy? I know some may disagree based upon the huge scoop of Boursin atop my steak, but let's just go with it. :)