Happy Fourth of July, friends! I hope everyone has had a fantastic day. I know we have.

As w speak, my boy and I are seated on the couch, basking in the glow of a wonderful dinner and watching a movie. We haven’t done much today, but we did a whole hell of a lot of cooking.

Since I decided to do the Whip It Up challenge this year, I decided we would make our holiday meal the challenge. And boy, was it surprisingly good.

All the recipes we used were from Food Network Kitchens Favorite Recipes. (We modified them all, too, simply because I cannot read ahead and follow instructions, even if they are laid out ahead of time and make perfect sense.)

The final meal?

Broiled flank steak with a tomato-scallion relish, broccoli hash and potato salad. YUM!

It was more wonderful that I could have imagined, and if I could, I would have gone back for seconds (and maybe thirds.) Needless to say, we will definitely be making this dish again.

The recipes are as followed:

Broiled Flank Steak with Tomato-Scallion Relish
1 flank steak (we had one that was 1 1/2 lbs.)
1/3 C extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

RELISH
3 ripe tomatoes
1 bunch scallions, trimmed
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 T balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to broil. While this happens, rub steak with EVOO, salt and pepper. Place halved tomatoes and trimmed scallions (along with the garlic and balsamic vinegar) around the steak on a broiler pan. (My boy put some of the garlic on the steak, and it was a good call.)

Place pan into the broiler. Turn steak in 6 minutes, and check the pinkness of it. We ended up cooking ours for nearly 25 minutes because the broiler was having issues, and the steak was medium when all was said and done.

When the steak is cooked, pull out of the oven, and let stand for a few minutes so the juices settle. Tomatoes and scallions should be charred. Then serve!

Red, White & Blue Potato Salad
Note: We couldn’t find blue potatoes, so we definitely improved on this one. It was really tasty nonetheless.
4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 bay leaf
1 C dry white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 lbs. potatoes (we used red potatoes)
1 T kosher salt
2 ribs celery, thinly sliced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
5 pieces of bacon

DRESSING
1/2 C red wine vinegar
2 T whole-grain mustard
1 C extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Throw thyme, rosemary, bay leaf, and garlic into pot with wine. Slice potatoes into bite-sized pieces, and add to saucepan. Add cold water to cover the potatoes and salt the water. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender, but not mushy. Drain and discard herbs.

While the potatoes cook, make the dressing. Whisk vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper in a large bowl and slowly add the olive oil.

Gently fold warm potatoes into the dressing. Be careful not to break them. Add the celery and set aside to cool. Before serving, add scallions and bacon.

Broccoli Hash
1 head broccoli cut into florets
3 T unsalted butter (we used salted because I didn’t have anything different)
2 T pine nuts
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and freshly grated Parmesan to taste

Bring saucepan full of water to a boil, then salt. Add the broccoli and boil until tender. Drain broccoli.

At the same time, melt butter in skillet and add pine nuts until toasted. Take pine nuts out of skillet with slotted spoon, and add the onion, then garlic. When both are soft and fragrant, add the broccoli and slowly add back in pine nuts. Take off heat, and sprinkle Parmesan on top.

…

So it was an easy meal to make, even though it took us a little time. (I blame the broiler for drawing this out.) The instructions were clear on all the recipes, and we had a fantastic time in the kitchen together.

I definitely recommend these recipes to those of y’all looking for something a little different to brighten up your holiday weekend!