Garlicy Herb Steak & Pasta & Chicken (Recipe)

I was inspired by a PBS cooking show the other week to make an olive oil-based marinade. And as luck would have it, this marinade ended up working for a variety of foods. I started out using it for steak. I whisked together 1 1/2 cups of olive oil, 1 tbsp. minced garlic, 1 tbsp. dried basil, 1 tbsp. dried chives, 1 tbsp. dried parsley, 1 large fresh tomato (seeded and diced), plenty of pepper and about 1 tsp. salt. I put the marinade in a plastic baggie, added 2 steaks and let it sit for about 1 hour on the counter.

Then the grill was fired up, the steaks cooked on each side for 3 minutes and dinner was served. I made sure to wipe off most of the marinade from the steaks before grilling though; so as to not burn little chunks of tomatoes. Didn't get a picture of the steaks; gobbled them up too quickly. It was delish! After this meal I was thinking some chopped up sun-dried tomatoes would have worked in the marinade as well. Next time.

The next night I needed a quick dinner. I had put the baggie of leftover marinade in the fridge the night before and thought, hm, pasta might work with it as well. So I boiled some linguine until al dente, then set this aside, poured 1/4 cup of the marinade into a large saute pan over medium heat (making sure I got all the chunks of tomatoes) and let the oil heat up and cook the garlic and tomatoes for a minute or two. I then sliced up the leftover steaks, threw that into the pan, added the pasta, tossed to coat and heat through and dished it up with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Another yummy dinner was served!

Then finally, with the last bit of marinade left in the bag, the following night I coated some chicken drumsticks, grilled them up and served that for dinner. Three successful dinners with one marinade. I was quite proud of myself for not letting any of it go to waste and all three dishes were tasty, quick and easy.