Cooking flank steak in your crockpot makes the most tender, juicy, and flavorful meat. Southwest steak and beans is an easy tex mex recipe, simple to make, inexpensive, and very flavorful. You can make this dish as mild or spicy as you'd like. Use hot salsa and add some crushed red pepper flakes and sliced jalapeno peppers if you want it spicy. If you like your food milder, use a mild salsa and cut down on the chili powder. Flank steak is a relatively new cut of beef. It comes from a part of the cow that does a lot of work, so the meat is lean and has a lot of flavor. But it can be tough when not cut properly. Make sure that you cut the meat against the grain for best results. To cut "Against the grain", look at the steak when it is cooked. You'll see long straight lines running through the meat. That's the "Grain". Hold your knife perpendicular to those lines and cut across them. That cuts the fibers in the meat so the steak will be very tender. This recipe is excellent served with lots of cold beer, some warmed tortillas, and some fresh fruit.