This one is filed under “Eerie Entrees” over at MyRecipes.com. But, really, there’s nothing scary about this scrumptious grilled steak on a homemade pizza — except for the fact that if you cook this for your Halloween dinner and little ghosts and goblins come to your door and smell it, they will never leave your house.

Now THAT’S scary.

Grilled Pizza With Steak, Pear and Arugula

Prep: 10 min., Grill: 30 min., Stand: 10 min.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

Vegetable cooking spray

1/2  pound  flank steak

Salt and pepper

1  tablespoon  olive oil

1 1/2  teaspoons  white balsamic vinegar

1  (12-inch) prebaked pizza crust

1  red Bartlett pear, peeled and sliced

1 1/2  cups  fresh arugula, divided

1/4  cup  crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Freshly cracked pepper

Preparation

1. Coat cold cooking grate of grill with cooking spray, and place on grill. Preheat grill to 350° (medium heat).

2. Season flank steak with salt and pepper.

3. Grill steak, covered with grill lid, at 350° (medium heat) 8 to 10 minutes on each side or to desired degree of doneness. Cover and let stand 10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, whisk together oil and vinegar in a small bowl.

5. Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin strips. Cut strips into bite-size pieces (about 1 cup).

6. Place pizza crust directly on hot cooking grate. Brush top of crust with oil mixture; layer with pear slices, 1 cup arugula, cheese, and beef strips.

7. Grill, covered with grill lid, 4 minutes. Rotate pizza one-quarter turn; grill, covered with grill lid, 5 to 6 more minutes or until thoroughly heated. Remove pizza from grill, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup arugula and freshly cracked pepper.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used 1/2 (16-oz.) package Mama Mary’s Thin & Crispy Pizza Crusts.

Oven-Baked Pizza With Steak, Pear, and Arugula: Assemble pizza as directed, and bake according to package directions for pizza crust.

Southern Living, OCTOBER 2007

Photo and recipe courtesy of MyRecipes.com.

Oh. My. Gosh.

Aren’t these gorgeous?

You know, presentation means so much when it comes to a wonderful meal.

I’ve found that to be true with my kids. If I turn the carrots into a smiley face they get eaten up with much more vigor than if I just slapped them onto a plate.

We adults are a bit more sophisticated, so we don’t really want our food to smile at us. But we do want it to be pleasing to the eye. It makes the whole experience more, well, pleasing.

That’s why these colorful Steak & Boursin Wrapped Bells are perfect for a dinner party — or just when you want to please someone special.

Steak & Boursin Wrapped Bells

EatingWell Test Kitchen

For an even quicker preparation, try deli roast beef.

Servings: 16 pieces
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ease of Preparation: Easy
Health: Low Sodium, Diabetes Appropriate, Heart Healthy, Low Cholesterol, Low Sat Fat, Low Carb, Low Calorie???

Ingredients: Steak-&-Boursin-Wrapped Bells
16 thin slices grilled steak, such as filet mignon (about 8 ounces)
1 cup light Boursin cheese, divided
4 ounces thinly sliced bell pepper ???

Steps:

1. Spread each steak slice with 1 teaspoon Boursin cheese and top with bell pepper slices.

2. Roll the steak around the bell pepper slices.

Nutrition: (Per piece)

Calories – 37

Carbohydrates – 1

Fat – 2

Saturated Fat – 1

Monounsaturated Fat – 0

Protein – 5

Cholesterol – 13

Dietary Fiber – 0

Potassium – 66

Sodium – 34

Nutrition Bonus – Protein, vitamin C, potassium, zinc.

Photo and recipe courtesy of arcamax.com.

This week, I think I may have made the most perfect steakburger I’ve ever attempted.

I pan fried them in olive oil and just at the last moment placed a glistening slice of cheese on the top so it could meld itself to the burger, fitting perfectly.

Out in the backyard, my 5-year-old son ate an orange Popsicle while I took photos of this masterpiece.

“Whatcha doin’, Mommy?”

“Taking pictures of this beautiful burger.”

(What? Doesn’t every mom take pictures of their dinner before they serve it to their family?)

“It looks like sunshine on a mountain,” he said. “And there’s the grass. And a red swimming pool.”

Classic. Now THAT is why you have kids, people. They show you new ways of looking at things you’ve seen a thousand times before.

It made me teary-eyed that he had put so much thought into this. This steakburger had created a real MOMENT between us.

Then, my precious son pummeled his empty Popsicle stick at a rabbit that had the misfortune of hopping through our yard at that exact moment.

That bunny was just trying to live his life, man. Sheesh.

But the moment was good for the 30 seconds it lasted.

We went inside to eat our sunshine-on-the-mountain burgers and the innocent stick that had been turned into a lethal weapon went promptly into the garbage.

But that’s life in the ‘burbs for ya. Go tough or go home, Thumper.