Barbecue Beef Fajitas
Barbecue Beef Fajitas
Thinly sliced sirloin steak make quick work of these barbecue beef fajitas
Bariatric patients and steak
Understandably, many post-op weight loss surgery patients are intimidated by steak. You might feel hesitation about these barbecue beef fajitas!
They have started out with mushy food and soft things and slowly move towards solid foods with caution. Is this you? Maybe you have experienced the discomfort or heavy feeling of a solid protein hitting your stomach. It’s not fun!
Your Gastric Sleeve, Gastric Bypass or Duodenal Switch pouch has its way of letting you know to hit the breaks. Steak is so dense it can be the most intimidating meat of all! If you take the right approach to both cooking and eating it, steak can be a great way to enjoy protein and flavor in your diet.
Sliced thin, Cooked fast
I really like working with the thinly sliced steaks because they encourage small bites. They also cook very fast so it can be key to not letting them get too tough!
Bonus, many patients don’t want to put a lot of time into a meal they can’t each much of so at least a fast cooking steak means not a big time commitment!
Aldi sells sirloin steak already thinly sliced. Other grocery stores may have this option or you can ask the butcher to thinly slice. The leaners cuts of steak include sirloin, T-bone, cubed, flank, porterhouse and round.
Slow down, keep it small
The biggest key of all to tolerating beef after weight loss surgery is tiny bites and pausing in between your bites.
I like to recommend bite sizes about a black bean in size, or even your pinkie finger nail. Cut your bites up before you start or use a cocktail fork. Put the fork down in between each bite and ask yourself how you are feeling. Stop at the first sign of fullness.
For this Barbecue Beef Fajita dish, I would focus on two bites of steak to every one bite of the bell pepper. Don’t worry, it makes great leftovers!
More beef recipes on Bariatric Food Coach
Barbecue Beef Fajitas
Ingredients
- 1 lb sirloin steak thinly sliced, cut into strips
- 2 green bell peppers sliced
- 2 tsp Montreal Steak® seasoning or other steak seasoning
- 1 tsp liquid smoke
- 3 tbsp barbecue sauce lowest sugar available
Instructions
- Prep ingredients by cutting thin sirloin into strips and slicing bell pepper. Season both with seasoning.
- Heat a large skillet to medium to medium high heat (in the middle). Start by placing thin steak strips in the skillet, not over crowing the pan. Cook an estimated three minutes per side. Remove and cook next batch if needed.
- Set steak strips aside and add bell peppers to the skillet. Saute until softened. Turn heat to medium low and add steak back. Add liquid smoke and barbecue sauce. Toss together for a minute or two and serve.
