Switch up your meat and potatoes game with this West African-inspired meal.

My family loves a good steak dinner. Even my 5-year-old enjoys a nice piece of medium-rare beef. A lot of times, I like to leave my steak simple – seasoned with salt and pepper, seared for a nice crust on the outside with a beautiful pink inside.

But a while back, one of the recipes in the Blue Apron order that I placed called for grains of paradise as a spice crust for sirloin steak. I hadn’t cooked with grains of paradise before, so I decided that this would be the perfect way to try it out without having a big jar of leftover spices.

We really enjoyed the flavor of the grains of paradise – it was mildly peppery with a hint of a citrus. Very interesting, and something I’d like to use in other recipes.

This dish ended up being a huge hit at the dinner table! We really enjoyed this preparation of plantains – it was a nice change of pace from rice or mashed potatoes.

The acidity of the herb sauce added a much needed tanginess to the tender steak, and the ginger-y peanuts made a wonderfully crunchy topping. I found myself mixing the collard greens into the plantains for each bite, topping it with some steak and dunking it into the sauce. It was a really well balanced meal that I’d love to make again.