Whoops, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?  All is fine, Chez Ang, I’ve just been lazing on the beach.  The South Beach Diet, that is.  Yup, after years of getting on (and falling off) the Weight Watchers wagon, I have defected to the sunny shores of the South Beach Diet.

It’s still early days, but I think this is the diet for me.  I think I need more ‘rules’ about eating and a definite absence of cakes and sugar as once I start eating cakes, I find it very hard to stop.  I’m still in Phase One of the plan (low-carbing) and  I must admit that I’m looking forward to a bowl of porridge as soon as Phase Two starts.  (I am also slightly fed up of eggs.  I fear I will be reincarnated as a chicken.)

Thankfully I can still eat some very familiar meals, and pre-SB, one of my new favourite easy dinners was from Bill Granger’s Every Day: seared steak with cannellini beans and tomatoes, all drizzled with some aged balsamic vinegar.  It’s an absolutely delicious meal and I’m so pleased that it fits in perfectly with the South Beach lifestyle. These days I do add extra tomatoes and some red pepper and also serve it with some steamed broccoli to up the veggies, but that just makes it even better. (Especially if the broccoli is stirfried with plenty of garlic.  Mmmm… garlic.)

Steak with Cherry Tomatoes and Cannelini Beans

Source: Every Day by Bill Granger, Murdoch Books
Serves 4

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 x 400g tins cannellini beans, rinsed
• 1 garlic clove, sliced
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 1 small red onion, sliced into thin wedges
• 250g cherry tomatoes
• 4 x 180g strip loin (New York cut) steaks
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper

To serve

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano seeds

Preheat the oven to 200C. Pour 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the beans, garlic, chilli flakes, onion and tomatoes into a small baking dish and stir together well.  Loosly cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the onion is tender and the tomatoes starting to pucker.

Meanwhile, brush the steaks with the remaining olive oil and season well.  Heat a chargrill pan over high heat and cook the steaks for 3-4 minutes each side (for medium). Leave the steaks to rest for 5 mins, covered loosely with foil.

When ready to serve, slice each steak into five or six pieces. Serve with the beans and tomatoes topped with a little balsamic and a sprinkling of oregano.