Seared Grass-Fed Steak

Gaining an awareness of where your food comes from and how it’s been handled before it hits your local grocery store can be overwhelming at first. It seems like nothing is safe to eat! This seems especially true when it comes to meat.

If you’ve been hanging around my site for a while, you’ve seen me share the scary news about the meat you eat. You may even know someone (or maybe it’s you) who has given up eating meat altogether so as to avoid eating “bad” meat: meat from animals that have been injected with hormones and antibiotics, confined, mistreated, and fed genetically modified grain their whole life before a final stress-filled trip to the slaughterhouse.

Of course, that meat is not going to be good fuel for your body! But what’s a meat-eater to do?

I hope you’ll take what you’ve learned about factory-farmed meats and be inspired to find a local farmer or purveyor of grass-fed and pasture-raised animals. This might take a little more work at first, but once you find a trusted source, you’ll be amazed at the quality, taste and results you’ll get from good meat. And the more people find out what’s going on with their meat, the easier it will be to get the good stuff. Keep voting with your dollars!

The star of this recipe, grass-fed steak, contains two to three times more cancer-fighting CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) than grain-fed beef. In addition to fighting cancer, CLA helps with weight loss and reduces the risk of heart disease.

Wait a minute! Isn’t steak one of those foods you should avoid if you have high cholesterol or heart disease? See, that’s where what the cow eats makes the difference. Cows that have lived happy lives out in a pasture, peacefully eating grass and wandering around, have been found to have higher levels of healthy fats, antioxidants and minerals, and lower levels of bad fats. In truth, grass-fed steak is one of the top fat-burning foods and quality protein sources you can eat.

This recipe is super simple and is really going to allow the amazing taste of the grass-fed steak to shine. Try to get ribeye or prime rib steaks for the best results.Start by taking your steaks out of the fridge, removing the packaging, and placing the meat in a baking dish. You’re going to let the steaks sit out and come to room temperature, which may take 20–30 minutes. But this step is important, as it allows the meat to cook evenly. After you did the work to find these beautiful steaks, you want to treat them right! Toward the end of that time, heat your oven to 350 F.

Once the steaks are room temperature, pat them dry and sprinkle a little salt and pepper on both sides. Return them to the baking dish and pop it into the oven for 5 minutes. Flip the steaks over and bake for another 5 minutes. Low and slow is the secret here before searing.

When you have 2 minutes remaining on the oven time, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Then take the steaks out of the oven, add some grapeseed oil to the skillet, and transfer the steaks to the skillet. It’s time to finish these with a nice crust!

Cook the steaks for 2–4 minutes on either side, to your desired doneness, and sprinkle with a bit more salt and pepper. You can add a pat of grass-fed butter or some beneficial ghee on top of the steaks here at the end, which will add richness and make them even more mouthwatering.

Take the steaks off the heat and transfer them to a cutting board or serving plate to rest for 5–8 minutes. Don’t worry — they won’t get cold! This will allow all the juices to redistribute in the meat, ensuring it’s moist and tender.

Now serve up your steak with a side of Mashed Faux-tatoes or some Baked Brussels Sprouts. And remember to say a toast to the farmers and happy cows that made your delicious meal possible!