Slow-Cooker Pepper Steak -- Something Warm for a Cool Evening That Could Go Anywhere

The first of May I plant the garden. It's been that way since I came back to the ranch nine years ago, and somewhere along the line it became the kind of ritual that I don't question. I just do it. Coffee before sunrise, then out to the beds with the seed packets I've been organizing on the kitchen table since March.

Patrick used to kneel in the beds beside me, which he can't anymore. This year he set a folding chair at the edge of the garden and called out suggestions while I worked — closer spacing on the beans, the tomatoes want more sun than I'm giving them, try the basil by the zucchini instead of the peppers. I followed maybe half the suggestions and ignored the other half, and neither of us said anything about the fact that the arrangement had changed. Some things you work around rather than through.

I put in the usual: tomatoes, zucchini, pole beans, peppers, basil, parsley, a short row of carrots that Patrick likes raw with salt. I added a new bed this year for winter squash — butternut and delicata — with the book in mind. I've been thinking about the October chapter, the one that follows the squash from seed to harvest to a pot of soup on the first cold evening, and I wanted the actual squash under my hands while I wrote it.

The Bozeman press acknowledged receipt of the proposal. The editor — her name is Sarah Olenick — said she'd have a response within three weeks. Three weeks feels like a manageable amount of time to hold uncertainty. I've been practicing that.

Tom is doing public readings from the mule book at a few area libraries. He called me with the schedule: Lewistown next week, then the Denton County Library in June. He's been nervous about the readings in a way that surprised me — Tom is one of the most naturally at-ease people I know — but he said there's something about reading your own words aloud in front of people that's different from just talking. I told him that's because you can't take back what's printed. He said "exactly."

I made pasta e fagioli on a cool evening this week, the way I do in early spring when the weather hasn't fully committed to warmth. White beans, canned tomatoes from last August, some of Patrick's dried herbs from the rafters. It's a humble dish. It tastes like the beginning of a month that could go anywhere.

The pasta e fagioli I made that cool Tuesday evening reminded me of something I’ve come to rely on in early spring — the kind of cooking that asks almost nothing of you while giving back warmth and a sense of order. The slow-cooker pepper steak I’ve been returning to lately works the same way: set it up in the morning, and by the time the seed packets are back on the kitchen table and Patrick has come in from his chair at the garden’s edge, dinner has quietly made itself. It’s the right dish for a month that could still go anywhere.

Slow-Cooker Pepper Steak

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 6–8 hours | Total Time: 6 hours 15 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef sirloin or flank steak, sliced thin against the grain
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp cold water
• Cooked white rice, for serving

Instructions

1. Slice the beef. Cut steak into thin strips, about 1/4 inch thick, slicing against the grain for tenderness. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
2. Layer the slow cooker. Place sliced onion and garlic in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Lay the beef strips on top.
3. Add the vegetables and sauce. Scatter the sliced bell peppers over the beef. Pour in the diced tomatoes, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir in the sugar and ground ginger.
4. Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 6–8 hours or on HIGH for 3–4 hours, until the beef is very tender and the peppers have softened into the sauce.
5. Thicken the sauce. About 20 minutes before serving, whisk the cornstarch into the cold water until smooth. Stir the slurry into the slow cooker, replace the lid, and cook on HIGH for an additional 15–20 minutes until the sauce thickens.
6. Serve. Taste and adjust seasoning. Spoon over cooked white rice and serve hot.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 34g | Fat: 10g | Carbs: 18g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 680mg