Steak and Spinach Salad with Pomegranate Dressing

My family LOVES steak.  I mean - really loves steak.  The boys get so excited when they hear it is on the menu, they start jumping up and down and chant...."steak......steak...".

What's even better?  They eat fresh spinach too!  I found this recipe in a relatively new book of mine: The Doctors Book Of Food Remedies and felt it was worthy of a blog post.

I added the blue cheese crumbles, I am a sucker for filet and blue cheese.  Any lean steak will work well for this dish, we had tenderloin in the freezer so that's what I used.  I modified the recipe slightly, which you can certainly do as well.  I think there is flexibility in what you can add to any salad.   Next time to this one I will include pomegranate seeds (recipe called for it but I didn't have any), sliced green onions, and another crunch - like sugar snap peas.

I hope you give this a try and let me know what you put in your version of this salad!

 

Steak and Spinach Salad with Pomegranate Dressing

Serves 4

Adapted from The Doctors Book Of Food Remedies

4 tablespoons 100% pomegranate juice

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 

4 teaspoons Dijon mustard

4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for steak

1 teaspoon honey 

12 cups loosely packed baby spinach leaves

1 cup juice packed mandarin oranges, drained

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (not shown in picture)

1/4 cup roasted almonds 

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper

Blue cheese crumbles

12 ounces lean steak (I used filet)

Drizzle the steak with olive oil then rub with salt, pepper, and freshly minced garlic.  Repeat on the other side.  Let sit while your grill heats.  Grill until cooked to your preference.

While the steak is cooking, in a small bowl, whisk together juice, vinegar, mustard, oil, and honey. Whisk in the oil as you pour into the bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a large serving bowl, combine the spinach, oranges, pomegranate seeds, and almonds.

Once the steak is done to your likeness, remove from grill and let rest for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, add all but about 3 tablespoons of the dressing to the salad, add salt and pepper to taste and toss well.  Slice the steak and add to the top of the salad.  Drizzle with remaining dressing and top with blue cheese crumbles.  Serve immediately.

Roasted Tomato & Anaheim Chile Pepper Salsa

I wanted to try out some of my new grilling skills from the cooking class I recently attended at Sur La Table.  So I bought a flank steak to serve my family for tonight's dinner.  We are not a "rare meat" kind of family - or even medium-rare for that matter.  But I followed my instructor's advice and grilled the steak (to which the first side down had oil, salt, & pepper) for 2 minutes, then I turned it 180 degrees and grilled for another 2 minutes.  I added salt & pepper to the side not on the grill during this time, then flipped and cooked for another 2 minutes.  From there, I moved the steak over to the side of the grill with the burners off and continued to let cook for about 10 minutes.  For medium-rare, my cooking class instructor suggested 5-7 minutes.  I removed from the grill and let sit on the cutting board for another 5-7 minutes. 

With the flank steak, I also served grilled asparagus (coated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, & pepper before hitting the grill) and wild rice.  I wanted to make a salsa to serve with the steak as well.  I bought some Anaheim chile peppers earlier in the week - and then started pulling other ingredients out of my refrigerator and pantry to finish it off.  I thought it was quite tasty with the steak.  I hope you'll give it a try and give me your thoughts!

What are you grilling this Labor Day Weekend?

 

Roasted Tomato & Anaheim Chile Pepper Salsa
Serves 4

4 Anaheim chiles, roasted, skins peeled, seeds removed, and diced
4 Roma tomatoes, roasted, skins peeled, seeds removed, and diced
1/2 cup diced red onion
2 avocados, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of one lime
Salt & pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl about 1 hour before serving.  Refrigerate.  Serve with grilled flank steak.

Marinated Filet with Roasted New Potatoes

Tonight I served marinated filet, roasted new potatoes, and steamed carrots - my family LOVES steak, so the more I serve it to them, the happier they are!  The boys aren't super fond of potatoes, but they devour the carrots every time!

Marinated Filet
I know a lot of people say not to marinate a filet - it's like "ruining" it - I disagree!  I love marinating filet at home, adding a new flavor to the already awesome taste of it!

Marinated Filet
Serves 4
allow for 6-8 hours of marinating time

4 filets
2-3 tablespoons of Worschestire sauce
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons minced ginger (the stuff in the tube works just great!)
2 teaspoons course ground Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
Dash hot sauce
Cracked black pepper
The Melting Pot Garlic and Wine Seasoning (obviously optional - but I love this stuff!)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 bottle of beer - your choice, today I used Widner Hefeweizen)

First you'll want to decide how much (if any) of the fat you want to trim from the filets.  The fat adds flavor while cooking, but then you have more to deal with at the time of eating.  I trim some of the big pieces - something I can quickly cut off goes!  Go ahead and tenderize the filets too....take two forks to them and poke a bunch of holes in them - on both sides.  Some of you I'm sure are cringing after reading this step.  Put the filets in a glass baking dish. 

Next, you can combine all of these ingredients in a separate bowl, or just dump it in as you go over the filets in the baking dish then mix at the end.  Either way, you'll be fine.  Combine, Worchestire sauce, garlic, ginger, mustard, liquid smoke, hot sauce, pepper, Melting Pot seasoning (optional), onion powder, olive oil, and beer - to just barely cover the filets.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6-8 hours, turning occasionally.

Start up the grill, as the grill is heating, go ahead and take out the filets and let sit on the counter for a bit - just to take the cold edge off of them.  Grill them to your liking - enjoy!

Roasted New Potatoes
I absolutely love these potatoes!  They are so easy to put together and the leftovers make excellent breakfast potatoes the next morning!  Cut them small enough (or cut up smaller the next morning) and you can add them to a breakfast burrito.

Roasted New Potatoes
Serves 4

Preheat oven to 400.

7-8 new potatoes, scrubbed and cut into bite sized pieces
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons Worchestire sauce
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt, pepper to taste
2 teaspoons paprika
4-5 fresh rosemary sprigs (or 1 tablespoon dried rosemary)

Place the potatoes in a baking dish and add the olive oil, stir.  Add the Worchestire sauce, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, and rosemary.  Stir the potatoes again coating them with everything you have added.

Roast for 45-50 minutes, or until fork tender.  Stir frequently during the roasting process.
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