As a personal chef, I receive numerous requests from clients for healthful alternatives to their favorite meals. These skirt steak lettuce “tacos” are among my most requested items because they satisfy a number of needs and won’t weigh you down.
Along with being low-carbohydrate, gluten- and grain-free, they’re loaded with flavor. Commercial Worcestershire has refined sugar and molasses, but recipes for homemade sugar-free alternatives are available online.
When preparing this dish in a client’s home kitchen, I use a cast iron grill pan to char the vegetables for the salsa and to grill the steak. However, both may be done on an outdoor grill.
I like to use skirt steak in this dish because of the beefy flavor and it’s a thin cut of meat so it cooks quickly. That thinness and the way a skirt steak should be sliced after cooking (against the grain), makes it easy to bite into and enjoy without having to use a knife and fork. I don’t pat the steak dry before placing on the grill pan so it can spatter a bit at first. Instead, I let the marinade drip off as much as possible. On a hot grill, that moisture will evaporate quickly and the chili powder that remains forms a nice, crispy crust on the steak. The marinade also works well on chicken and pork.
The tanginess of the goat cheese mimics the taste of dairy sour cream that often accompanies Mexican cuisine in this country. Goat’s milk products tend to be tolerated better by people who have difficulty with regular dairy.
Charring the tomatoes, jalapeño and onion takes the flavor up a notch. Cooking tomatoes even slightly makes lycopene, an important antioxidant found in tomatoes, easier for the body to absorb.
With all the taste and health benefits in these tacos, you may never look at tacos the same way again.
Skirt Steak Lettuce “Tacos” with Charred Tomato Salsa
Serves 2
Skirt Steak ingredients
¼ cup fresh lime juice
¼ cup olive oil, plus more for the grill pan
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons agave nectar or honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
Salt and black pepper, to taste
1 (12-ounce) skirt steak
Boston lettuce leaves
Avocado slices or guacamole
Lime wedges
Crumbled goat cheese
Combine first 7 ingredients in small bowl. Transfer to a zipper-top plastic bag. Add the skirt steak then distribute marinade evenly over the steak inside the bag. Refrigerate 2 to 8 hours.
Preheat an oiled grill pan over medium-high heat. Remove steak from marinade allowing excess to drip off; discard marinade. Grill skirt steak 5 to 6 minutes per side or to an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Let rest 5 to 6 minutes. Cut the skirt steak in half widthwise then thinly slice each half lengthwise along the grain.
To serve, place thinly sliced beef in lettuce leaves, top with salsa, avocado slices or guacamole, lime wedges and crumbled goat cheese. Roll up and enjoy.
Salsa ingredients
3 large plum (Roma) tomatoes (about 1 pound), halved lengthwise
1 large jalapeño pepper
½ small red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
Salt and black pepper, to taste
Preheat a cast-iron pan or cast-iron grill pan over high heat. Place tomatoes cut side up in the pan, along with pepper and onion. Using tongs to assist you, char the vegetables until a fair amount of area has blackened. Transfer to a bowl to cool.
Remove any loose skins from the tomatoes. Coarsely chop the tomatoes, pepper and onion, reserving as much juice as possible from the tomatoes. Add garlic, cilantro, lime juice and salt and black pepper to taste.
Leave a Reply