too much of a good thing

I have an issue with food, akin to what other women have with say shoes or dresses. Sometimes, I see that thing and it speaks to me, "Take me home with you." And, I can't resist. I have the hardest time in the spring. Just as the weather is warming up, beautiful, fresh, crisp veggies are reappearing at the grocery store and farmers market. The sprite cousins of the sad, soggy stand-ins of winter that have traveled thousands of miles in refrigerated trucks.

So, this is how it came to be that I found in my veggie drawer snow peas, snap peas, and English peas. What's a girl to do? Well, this is what we did. My daughters (2yrs & 4yrs) shelled the English peas and had a blast chasing after the runaway peas. I roughly chopped the snow and snap peas. I tossed it all into a saute pan with some olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. To me that's the beauty of fresh ingredients. You don't have to fuss over it or cover it up with lots of other flavors. (which reminds me of a PSA from when we were younger). I served the 3Ps with a broiled Mandarin flank steak, recipe to follow, which cooks up in 8-10 minutes. A meal inspired by an impulse buy, cooked up in less than 30 minutes, and without any buyer’s remorse.

Broiled Mandarin Flank Steak (marinade from Weber's Real Grilling)
2/3 C orange juice
1/4 C soy sauce
2 Tbl vegetable oil
2 Tbl minced garlic
2 tsp hot chili-garlic sauce, such as sriracha
1.5 lbs flank steak

Combine marinade ingredients in a large freezer bag. Add steak and refrigerate for a couple of hours. When you are ready to cook, remove the steak and pat dry. Place on an oiled broiler pan and under the broiler for about 4 minutes per side. Let it rest for 5 minutes before you slice into it, against the grain