Seared Sirloin with Roasted Sweet Potato and Garlic Spinach
Lean sirloin, seared hard and sliced thick, over caramelized roasted sweet potato with buttery garlic spinach and a pumpkin-seed crunch on top. Simple plate, serious protein.
Why it works
Sirloin is leucine-dense complete protein, and it's one of the best dietary sources of creatine you can eat, roughly 2 to 2.5 grams per pound of raw meat. Creatine is what refills phosphocreatine, the fuel your muscles burn first in a heavy set. Roasted sweet potato brings back the low-glycemic carbohydrate that refills glycogen after training, and the magnesium in the spinach and pumpkin seeds runs the ATP-dependent steps behind every contraction, and every bit of the recovery afterward.
About 0.4 g/kg of high-leucine animal protein per meal is the number that maximally stimulates muscle protein synthesis, and the International Society of Sports Nutrition backs dietary creatine from red meat for strength and power output.
Ingredients
- 400g lean top sirloin steak (about 2 steaks)
- 400g sweet potato, peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
- 200g fresh spinach
- 30g raw pumpkin seeds
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 10g butter
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Method
- Heat oven to 220C (425F). Toss sweet potato cubes with 1/2 tbsp olive oil, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, spread on a tray and roast 25-30 minutes until caramelized, turning once.
- Pat the sirloin dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Let it come toward room temperature while the potatoes roast.
- Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until they pop and smell nutty, then set aside.
- Heat the remaining 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a heavy skillet over high heat. Sear the steaks 3-4 minutes per side for medium-rare, then rest on a board for 5 minutes; skip the rest and all that juice ends up on the board instead of in the meat.
- In the same pan, lower heat to medium, melt the butter, add the garlic for 30 seconds, then wilt the spinach for 2 minutes with a pinch of salt.
- Slice the rested steak against the grain. Plate over the sweet potato and spinach and scatter with toasted pumpkin seeds.
