By Jodee Weiland

Whenever I am looking for a sandwich type meal for dinner, Grilled Steak Sandwiches with Sweet Peppers and Onions come to mind. With the right cut of steak, this sandwich is full of flavor and easy to prepare. I usually look for thin cut round steak or sandwich steak at the store. The seasoned grilled steak with the right rolls, add in some sweet peppers and onions sautéed, a vegetable like my Grilled Balsamic Asparagus, and you have a very tasty meal for dinner.

I love a grilled steak sandwich done right, but it’s important to sauté some sweet peppers and onions in olive oil to dress the sandwich for a fuller flavor. I like to add some Italian giardiniera to that as well for an even heartier taste experience. I use hot, but even mild giardiniera will add extra flavor. There is no need for a sauce with or without the giardiniera, because this sandwich has plenty of flavor if the steak is seasoned right and you add the sweet peppers and onions on top of the steak. Sometimes less is more, and that’s true here.

Grilled Steak Sandwiches with Sweet Peppers and Onions

1 and 1/2 pounds thinly sliced round steak/sandwich steak
Weber Grill’s Chicago Style Steak Seasoning or your preferred steak seasoning to         taste
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion sliced thinly
2 garlic cloves chopped finely
8 or more mini sweet peppers cleaned and cut in halves
About four sandwich rolls

Prepare the steak with your seasoning of choice. We like Weber Grill’s Chicago Style Steak Seasoning. Also, prepare any vegetables you may be grilling to go along with your steak sandwiches. We like to have my Grilled Balsamic Asparagus because it goes well with these sandwiches.

Next, slice the onions, sweet peppers, and chop the garlic. In a skillet, heat the olive oil and then add the onions and garlic to the skillet first. Sauté the onions and garlic for a few minutes or until somewhat translucent, and then add the sweet peppers. Sauté all the vegetables until cooked.

When done, set aside the skillet with a cover on the pan to keep the vegetables warm. Grill your steak without over cooking the meat, so it stays juicy and tender, and then grill the vegetables you chose for a side dish. This will not take long because the steaks are sliced thin.

Once finished, serve your Grilled Steak Sandwiches with Sweet Peppers and Onions. If you like, add Italian giardiniera, either hot or mild. We always have Grilled Balsamic Asparagus with our steak sandwiches because the flavors of both enhance each other. This meal tastes wonderful and will satisfy everyone. Give it a try sometime soon, and enjoy!

By Jodee Weiland

Aunt Rose, who taught me how to make eye of round roast Italian style, was my mother’s sister, and she lived in the house next to my parent’s home, the home I grew up in from the time I was two until I moved away to a place of my own.

She was always more than just an aunt. She was more like another mother figure in my life because she lived next door to us, and she was very close to my sisters and me. Aunt Rose had no children of her own, but she treated us like we were her children and was always there for us. So way back when I first started cooking, I was at my Aunt Rose’s house, and she was cooking a beef roast that smelled so delicious I had to ask how she did it.

When I asked her how she cooked her roast, she told me. Basically, Aunt Rose’s Eye of Round Roast Italian Style is the recipe she gave me that day without the measurements. What can I say? Italians just cook and put things in as they go. Who measures? At any rate, I took down her directions and have been cooking my beef roasts this way now for years, with a few small adaptations along the way,…also, another Italian trait, at least in my family. Over the years, I added the carrots and onions under my roast and the Worcestershire Sauce. I, also, learned to brown my roast before cooking it in the oven. These were my additions and have worked out well for me. Aunt Rose liked them enough to add them to her recipe after I told her what I had done. So here is Aunt Rose’s Eye of Round Roast Italian Style as it is today!

Aunt Rose’s Eye of Round Roast Italian Style

2 pounds lean eye of round roast boneless
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic clove chopped
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
5 large carrots peeled and cut in 1 inch pieces
2 yellow onions quartered
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Spray the baking dish you will use with olive oil.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If your roast has excess fat, trim it off. Then season the roast lightly with black pepper and sea salt lightly. Heat the olive oil in a pan and brown the roast lightly on all sides on your stove top. Once done, layer the bottom of your baking dish with the carrots and onions. Put the browned roast on top of these vegetables and then add the basil, parsley, chopped garlic, onion powder, and black pepper. Lastly, drizzle the Worcestershire sauce over the roast. Cover the baking dish and cook in the oven for about one hour. Uncover after one hour and cook for ten minutes longer. Remove from oven and slice the roast. Put the roast back in the baking dish with juices and cook for another few minutes or until cooked to your taste, whichever that may be, rare to well done.

Once done, Aunt Rose’s Eye of Round Roast Italian Style is delicious. Aromatic while cooking and full of flavor when done, serve with the carrots and onions under your roast. This is a meal all in one pot, but you can add a salad if you like or a loaf of bread. We like it with the carrots and onions and a glass of Merlot. If you try this meal, you will love it for sure.  It is definitely a crowd pleaser, so enjoy!