Chimichurri Steak Bites

Father's Day at Maryvale. Roberto at the cinder block grill. The tradition. The eleventh Father's Day of cooking alongside my father, the forty-third Father's Day of a man standing at a grill he built. Roberto grilled carne asada. I brought the portable smoker. Sofia grilled corn and peaches. Diego gave eleven sticks — eleven, in a configuration he described as "a rocket ship" and which looked like a pile of sticks but which Roberto evaluated and approved with the nod.

I gave Roberto the one-year financial summary for Rivera's. The real numbers — revenue, profit, customer count, growth rate. The numbers are strong. Rivera's made money in its first year. Not enough money to make anyone rich, but enough money to prove that the dream is viable and the fire pays for itself and the man who built a cinder block grill in 1982 created something that, forty-three years later, feeds two hundred people a day and employs eleven people and has a waiting list on Saturdays that would make a New York restaurant jealous.

Roberto read the summary. He folded it and put it in his shirt pocket — the Roberto pocket, the same pocket where the first financial report went last Father's Day. The man carries the numbers in his pocket the way he carries everything: close to the chest, private, important. He said, "Year two will be better." Not a question. A declaration. Year two will be better because Roberto has decided it will be better, and Roberto's declarations have a way of becoming true, as if the universe recognizes the authority of a man who has stood at a grill for forty-three years and has earned the right to narrate the future.

After dinner, Sofia announced that she wants to enter a cooking competition this summer. Not a BBQ competition — a junior cooking competition, the kind where kids twelve and under compete with recipes of their own design. She has been researching competitions on her tablet and has identified three in the Phoenix area. She said, "Dad, you compete. I want to compete." The apple. The tree. The fire. She is eleven and she wants to compete because her father competes and her grandfather competes (from a lawn chair, with an index card, but it counts) and the Rivera DNA includes a gene for standing over fire and being judged.

I said, "Let's find you a competition." She said, "I already found three. I made a spreadsheet." Of course she did. The girl has a spreadsheet for everything. The spreadsheet is her Manual. The spreadsheet is her fire. She will enter a competition this summer and she will bring the spreadsheet and the santoku knife and the instinct that Elena gave her and the technique that cooking camp refined and she will compete. The fire passes. The daughter carries it forward.

Standing next to Roberto at that cinder block grill, watching Sofia char corn and peaches like she’d been doing it for decades, I kept thinking about what it means to hand something down — not the grill, not the recipes exactly, but the instinct. These chimichurri steak bites are what I make when I want that same carne asada energy in something Sofia can own completely: a recipe she can walk into a competition with, adapt, and call hers. The herb-forward chimichurri hits the same notes as the marinade Roberto’s been using since 1982, and the bite-size format means she can plate it her way — which, knowing Sofia, already has a column in the spreadsheet.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 10 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs sirloin steak, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Chimichurri Sauce:
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, packed
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp fresh oregano leaves (or 1 tsp dried)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

Make the chimichurri. Combine parsley, garlic, oregano, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. With the motor running, stream in the olive oil until just combined — do not over-blend. Set aside and let the flavors meld while you prep the steak.
Season the steak. Pat the steak cubes dry with paper towels. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, and garlic powder until evenly coated.
Heat the pan or grill. Heat a cast-iron skillet or grill pan over high heat until smoking. For outdoor grilling, heat to high.
Sear the steak bites. Working in a single layer and in batches if needed, sear the steak cubes for 2–3 minutes per side until deeply browned on the outside and medium-rare to medium inside. Do not crowd the pan or the steak will steam instead of sear.
Rest briefly. Transfer cooked steak bites to a plate and let rest for 2–3 minutes to lock in the juices.
Serve. Arrange steak bites on a platter and spoon chimichurri generously over the top. Serve remaining chimichurri on the side for dipping.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chimichurri Steak Bites — The Fire Roberto Started, the Flavor Sofia Will Carry Forward