The Biggest Loser Coffee-Crusted Chopped Steak

I normally cook on Wednesday nights, but my husband was craving fried chicken on Wednesday, so he went to the grocery store and picked some up. My night to cook got bumped to Thursday. I made The Biggest Loser Coffee-Crusted Chopped Steak. I found the recipe in The Biggest Loser Quick & Easy Cookbook. I've made a few things from this cookbook, but I haven't read the book yet, so I'm holding off on writing up a review of the book until I actually read it. I'm still working my way through Dolvett's book The 3-2-1 Diet: Eat and Cheat Your Way to Weight Loss.

Once again, I got home and said, "Honey! I have no idea what to make for side dishes!" I don't know why this is so hard for me, but I pick a main dish and then can't come up with side dishes. We had some fresh green beans in the fridge, so I boiled those up with a tiny bit of salt. They would have tasted so much better covered in butter, but I restrained myself. I also made some instant mashed potatoes. I know they aren't the best thing for me, but I put a very small portion on my plate, so this was still an okay meal as far as calories go. The potatoes were processed, but I can't give up everything at once. I'm slowly getting there though.

The Coffee-Crusted Chopped Steak was very easy to make. You form these little ovals and then cover them with coffee grounds. I wasn't really sure that either of us would like this, and I had serious doubts about me liking it since I'm not a coffee drinker. I tried it though because of the whole broadening my horizons thing. In the end, this was nothing more than an oddly shaped hamburger. I could barely taste the coffee while I was eating the burger. After the burger was done, I had a coffee aftertaste, but some of the juices had run into my potatoes which gave them a bit of a coffee taste. My husband got a hint of the coffee flavor, but it wasn't very strong. 

At some point, he said that he wondered if the coffee was going to keep us up that night. I giggled a little and said, "There's a half tablespoon between four patties. That shouldn't be a problem." He concurred, and promptly fell asleep about 15 minutes after his head hit the pillow. I know this because I was wide awake for about an hour after my head hit the pillow. I thought about getting up to read, but decided to tough it out. I'm not going to be making this fun little dish ever again! I just didn't really get the coffee with the beef. It was weird for me. I tried it, and I feel better because of it, but there are more flavorful ways to cook ground beef so I'll stick with those. The Biggest Loser Chili Meatloaf was one of those.