Peppered Beef Rolls with Balsamic Spring Salad.

New Year's Eve dinner involved a very unsatisfying trip to the white-trash seafood mecca Red Lobster.  The only satisfaction I take in the meal is that: a) I joined my daddy is celebrating his birthday at his choice of restaurant, and b) I adhered to my calorie goals.

New Year's Day included an unplanned visit to Uno Chicago Grill for deep dish pizza.  Andrew and I have gone back and forth, attempting to find a satisfactory pizza middle-ground.  While deep dish is amazingly delicious, it's not the middle ground.  Post-meal--an unfinished one at that--I felt as if I had ingested an entire stick of butter.  Ugh.  Back to Sal's we go! 

Though Andrew is in New York City with his best friend today, I opted to cook anyway.  I'm still not through Everyday Food's "Grocery Bag" menu, so I used the leftover peppers from Tuesday's sausages to make peppered beef rolls.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup of Leftover Sauteed Onions and Peppers
• 1/2 Pound of Thinly Sliced Top Round Beef
• 1 Ounce of Pepperjack Cheese
• 1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
• 1 Clamshell of Organic Spring Mix
• 5 Tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and Pepper

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Pat the slices of beef dry with a clean paper towel.  Place each dried slice on a plate.  Salt and pepper the beef to taste.
2. Place one-eighth an ounce of pepperjack cheese on top of each slice of beef.
3. Top the seasoned beef and pepperjack cheese with the onion and pepper mixture.
4. Roll each piece of beef carefully, using your fingers to keep the roll tight and the ingredients stable.
5. Secure each roll with a toothpick at the "seam."
6. Use a basting brush to oil a large pan with one tablespoon of olive oil.
7. Place each beef roll in the pan.  Cook for eight minutes, rotating to evenly cook as needed.
8. Rinse the spring mix well.  Pat dry with paper towels. 
9. Place spring mix in a large bowl and toss with five tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.

This recipe truthfully only serves three, though it's intended--how, I don't know--to serve four.  Each roll is roughly 105 calories; one serving of salad with vinegar weighs in at about 10 calories.