Orange Beef with Garlicky Chard for 1

Orange Beef

2 oranges

1 clove garlic

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 sirloin or rib-eye steak

1/2 Tbs cornstarch

3 scallions

Vegetable oil, salt, pepper

Garlicky Chard

1 bunch rainbow (or regular) chard

2 garlic cloves

Red pepper flakes

Olive oil, salt, pepper

Beef recipe adapted from marthastewart.com. Chard recipe inspired from a recent dinner party given by my friend Sarah. 

Set a skillet heating to medium high. Slice the steak into 1/2 inch strips and wash, trim and roughly slice the chard. Set both aside. Zest and squeeze the juice from 1 of the oranges into a small bowl. Chop all 3 garlic cloves and add 1/3 of them to the juice along with the soy sauce. Segment the other orange, slicing between the membranes over the juice and zest mixture to capture the additional juice. Set the segments aside. 

Toss the beef with the cornstarch, salt and pepper and saute in vegetable oil in your now-hot skillet until just cooked through, 3 minutes or so. The cornstarch will give the beef a nice deep brown color and help thicken the sauce. Chop up the scallions while the beef cooks. Remove the beef from the skillet, turn down the heat a touch and pour in the juice and zest mixture. Reduce the mixture to a light syrup, add the cooked beef, scallions and orange segments and heat through. Pour onto a serving plate.

Rinse and wipe the pan out with a paper towel and return to the heat. Add a bit of olive oil and the remaining chopped garlic. Heat the garlic until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the sliced chard, salt, pepper and a little splash of water or stock (or a stock cube.) Wilt the greens for about 4 or 5 minutes. Plate along with the beef.