Middle Eastern Steak Tostadas

One of my friends, who is also a diabetic, mentioned to me that her doctor had told her that eating for diabetes was monotonous.  That was definitely not what my friend wanted to hear.  I don't think that that is the case myself.  I find that I can fit many many foods into my dietary guidelines.  I love to cook what I would call rustic comfort food, with an exotic twist, and today's recipe fits that bill.  It also fits beautifully into the low-carb diet.

When looking at nutrition labels, I found very quickly that flour tortillas don't often fit into my diet.  They are fairly high carb, and low in nutrients.  This recipe was originally for a wrap, using a flour tortilla.  I took the original recipe and changed several things around to meet my tastes, and voila - a fabulous lunch, fit for a diabetic diva (or a diabetic king)!  I also found that as a general rule, Corn Tostadas have far fewer ingredients!  The brand I buy, has Corn flour, Salt, vegetable oil, lime and water.  Some brand also contain food coloring.

If you are cooking for less than 4 people, this meat freezes wonderfully for a make ahead meal.  You can freeze it in the marinade, OR cook it and then freeze it.  You can also purchase pre-sliced beef for stir fry for this recipe and skip the first step of freezing and slicing the beef.

Middle Eastern Steak Tostadas

*Needs to marinate

1 ¼ lb lean round steak

1 med red onion, thinly sliced

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

½ tsp salt, divided

½ tsp ground coriander

¼ c. fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1/3 c. chopped fresh mint, divided

4 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1/3 c. plain Greek yogurt

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced

3 c. fresh baby spinach, or arugula

12 Corn Tostadas

Siracha or your favorite hot sauce

Place steak in freezer for 10 min.  Remove from freezer and thinly slice against the grain into 2 inch long strips.

Combine steak, onion, spices, lemon juice, 3 tbsp olive oil, garlic, ¼ tsp salt, basil and ½ the mint in a large ziptop bag.  Massage meat well to coat.  Squeeze air out of the bag and seal.   Marinade 1 hr to overnight, turning over occasionally to redistribute marinade.

Mix together Greek Yogurt, remaining salt and mint, and sliced cucumber.  Chill until ready to use.  Can be done the day ahead.

Heat remaining olive oil in a large skillet until very hot.  Working in batches, add meat and onion mixture to the skillet in a single layer and cook until browned.  About 4 minutes.

To serve Tostadas – Layer Steak and onion with a handful of fresh spinach and a dollup of the cucumber salad on top of each corn tostada.  Drizzle with Siracha or Hot sauce to taste.  Enjoy!

For 3 Tostadas the carbs run as follows (again this will depend on the brand of tostada you buy)

Tostadas 3= 24 grams of carb, 2 grams fiber, 7 grams fat

The only other carbs in the recipe come from the onion, Lemon Juice, cucumber and Greek yogurt. And they equal out to be another 10 grams approximately.  So each serving of 3 tostadas has approximately 34 grams of carbohydrates.  Or 2 carb choices.