Sunday Lunch Week 44: Mexican Steak Bowls

Sunday Lunch Week 44 brings a comforting and unexpected meal: Mexican steak bowls made with ribeye, yellow rice, and black beans — a practical, delicious feast shaped by a busy morning and the ingredients already waiting in the kitchen.

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The Story Behind This Week’s Sunday Lunch

Sunday Lunch Week 44 began with the kind of confusion that only daylight savings time can bring. I woke early, ready to upload and edit my Bhagi Rice and Pigtail video, when my husband called upstairs, “It’s almost 10! What are you making for breakfast?”

My phone insisted it was 8:45 a.m.
He insisted it was 10.

I stood there baffled — because truly, nothing confuses a Trini abroad quite like this business of time moving forward, backward, or sideways. Trinidad time stays put. America’s time hops around like a rabbit.

We finally agreed it was “almost 9 but should have been 10,” and I fried a quick breakfast of eggs, toast, and jam before heading into the kitchen to begin Sunday Lunch Week 44 in earnest.

The original plan was simple and comforting: stew chicken, red beans, paratha, and cabbage with tomatoes. My husband had helped by taking the chicken out of the freezer and putting the beans to soak. But when I got downstairs, the chicken was still frozen solid, the beans still not ready from the morning soak, and the morning was already slipping away.

So I shifted into my usual Sunday rhythm — cooking lunch while also preparing something my daughter could enjoy during the week. One of her favorites is a Mexican-style steak bowl: tender ribeye steak, yellow rice, black beans, crisp lettuce, and queso fresco — the same bowl she happily pays thirty dollars for at a local spot. I had promised to make it for her, and with the ribeye already defrosting in the fridge and the ingredients for the Mexican yellow rice waiting in the pantry, today felt like my chance.

I realized I could save her thirty dollars now — and many more thirties going forward — by recreating it at home and documenting the recipe for her, so she can make it herself when she goes away to medical school. It just made sense.

So I seasoned and pan-grilled the steak, cooked the rice, simmered the beans, and chopped the lettuce while filming the whole process. And somewhere around 11:30 a.m., as I crumbled queso fresco over the bowl, it struck me: this is Sunday Lunch Week 44 – Mexican steak bowls. Not what I planned, but exactly what the day allowed.

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Why I Chose This Meal for Sunday Lunch

This week carried its own weight. The day before, we spent hours assembling two new beds — one with what felt like thousands of tiny pieces — preparing the basement for Thanksgiving guests. I scrubbed the bathroom floor, lifting stubborn layers of construction dust from every corner of the tiles.

By Sunday morning, both my husband and I were exhausted.
And cooking — real, meaningful, Caribbean cooking — takes energy.

So Sunday Lunch Week 44 became a reflection of the season we’re in: using what we have, clearing out the pantry, making space before the holidays, and allowing grace to guide the menu.

The ribeye came from the freezer.
The beans came from the pantry.
The meal came from intuition.

And sometimes, those are the best Sundays of all.

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What We Cooked This Week

🥩 Mexican-Style Steak Bowl

Pan-seared ribeye steak — recipe coming soon
Fluffy yellow rice — recipe coming soon
Black beans — recipe coming soon
Shredded lettuce
Queso fresco

A comforting, colorful bowl inspired by my daughter’s favorite takeout — recreated at home with cleaner ingredients and plenty of love.

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🍗 Baked Cornish Hens

Seasoned and baked for my husband’s weekly lunches — part of our Sunday rhythm.

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🦃 Baked Turkey Breast

Filmed and baked for weekday meals. The full post is coming soon.

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🍗 Stew Chicken with Red Beans

The original idea for Sunday Lunch Week 44 — postponed to Sunday Lunch Week 45 (again, a maybe) because the chicken refused to thaw and the beans needed more time.

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Reflections on Sunday Lunch Week 44 – Mexican Steak Bowls

Not every Sunday brings a grand feast. Some bring a quiet reminder that cooking is as much about flexibility and intuition as it is about recipes and tradition.

This Sunday Lunch Week 44 is one I’ll remember — not for its extravagance, but for its honesty. A simple steak bowl, prepared with intention, fed us exactly what we needed: nourishment, comfort, and a small moment of stillness before the holiday rush.

It’s a reminder that meals don’t always follow the plan.
Sometimes they just need to feel like home.

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More Sunday Lunches to Explore

If you’re new to my 52 Weeks of Sunday Lunch series, welcome. Each Sunday, I cook a completely different meal — no repeats for the entire year — and document the menu, the story behind it, and the rhythm of real Caribbean home cooking. It’s my way of preserving tradition, embracing creativity, and showing that Sunday lunch can be comforting, spontaneous, or even shaped by whatever life throws our way.

Here are more Sunday Lunches you might enjoy exploring:

🌿 52 Weeks of Sunday Lunch (Full Index)

See every menu, story, and reflection in the series — from Week 1 straight through to the latest post:
👉 View the full 52 Weeks of Sunday Lunch series →

✨ Recent Sunday Lunches

• Sunday Lunch Week 43: Jamaican Stew Peas
• Sunday Lunch Week 42: Preparing for Diwali — Our Feast & Traditions
• Sunday Lunch Week 41: Curry Channa and Aloo with Baigan and Curry Bodi
• Sunday Lunch Week 40: Curry Short Ribs with Zucchini
• Sunday Lunch Week 39: The Ultimate Corn Soup with Pigtails

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