The offer of a free mega-steak may seem like an intriguing challenge, but it won't do you any favors, nutritionally speaking.
My friend Donna Florio, who’s a senior writer at Southern Living magazine, rolled into 2009 with this goal: Eat less meat. “I’ve been in a bad meat habit lately, choosing beefy entrees, eating fewer meatless meals,” she says. (By the way, Donna is not referring to the Big Texan’s 72-ounce steak challenge, pictured above.) “I’m going to work on getting back to enjoying meat as an accessory rather than a main dish.”
I’m not including this resolution to demonize meat. I love meat, and believe it deserves a spot in a healthy diet–especially if you choose lean cuts and enjoy them in reasonable portions. If you visit a steakhouse, chances are the 8-ounce New York strip steak is the light-eater’s option. And on a menu populated with 24-ounce porterhouse steaks and other mega-cuts, it is. A 3-ounce cooked portion (that’s about 4 ounces raw) is more like it, according to the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
I’m not including this resolution to demonize meat. I love meat, and believe it deserves a spot in a healthy diet–especially if you choose lean cuts and enjoy them in reasonable portions. The USDA considers a serving of beef to be 3 ounces cooked (4 ounces raw). That’s not a lot, especially if you’re accustomed to larger, restaurant-size portions.
There are several ways to “accessorize” with meat.
Keep an eye on portions. The USDA considers a serving of beef–or pork, lamb, chicken, or seafood, for that matter–to be 3 ounces cooked (4 ounces raw). That’s not a lot, especially if you’re used to larger, restaurant-size portions, though if it’s surrounded by ample veggies and whole grains, you won’t feel deprived. A kitchen scale is a handy tool to help you keep portion sizes in check. Serious Eats’ Meat Lite recipes offer plenty of inspiration on how to do more with less meat.
In this Mexican dish, grilled pork is part of a bigger picture. (Photo courtesy of the Culinary Institute of America/Greystone.)
Look to other cuisines for inspiration. Meat may be a mainstay of the American diet, but in other parts of the world, meat is an expensive ingredient and cooks have had to devise creative ways to stretch its flavor. Asian stir-fries are a classic example of this. For inspiration, check out the Culinary Institute of America’s Worlds of Healthy Flavors site.
Add meaty flavor in subtle ways. If you love hearty, meaty flavor–what’s known as umami, the so-called fifth taste sense–you can enhance that quality in many ways. For example, last night, I made pasta with some leftover Pantry Pasta Sauce. The sauce itself has a touch of soy sauce, which lends it a meaty, umami-ness that helps tame the tinniness of canned tomatoes. For extra meaty heft, I added sauteed mushrooms and pancetta, and finished it off with a grating of pecorino Romano cheese.
[Interesting side note: In all fairness, I have to point out that the Big Texan in Amarillo, Texas, which is famous for offering a free 72-ounce steak to anyone who can gobble the thing in under an hour, also serves a nice, comparatively lil' 6-ounce filet.]
Driving away from my stop at the cross, I was greeted by huge (of course) billboards touting the Big Texan in Amarillo. The 
