Arugula Steak Salad With Blue Cheese and Avocado

It's new recipe night.  I got this one out of the paper.  I love salad.  You may have picked up on that, considering the fact that we eat one as a side dish several times a week.  My favorite entree salad is mixed greens with lots of veggies and BBQ chicken breast on top.  Mmmmmm.  We eat that a lot in the summer.

I'm not one of those people who needs to have red meat five nights a week, but I do enjoy a good steak.  So the combo of steak and salad sounded good - the cheese sealed the deal.  The recipe calls for skirt, flank or hanger steak.  I had a flat iron in the freezer, so that's what I used.  I think it would be good with anything.  Sirloin would be just as quick and tasty too.

This makes 4 to 6 servings, so invite some friends, or plan on having leftover meat for lunch.

Here's the recipe:

Arugula Steak Salad With Blue Cheese and Avocado

STEAK:

1/3 C soy sauce
1/4 C firmly packed brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 lb skirt, flank or hanger steak

DRESSING:

1/3 C olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Juice of 1/2 lime, or 1 Tbsp mild vinegar, such as sherry vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp prepared mustard
Salt and pepper to taste

SALAD:

2 small bunches arugula, washed and dried, or packaged baby arugula (I subbed mixed greens and spinach)
1 ripe avocado, sliced into bite-sized cubes
4 oz blue cheese, crumbled
2 handfuls cherry or grape tomatoes, halved

To make marinade and steak:  In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, sugar, garlic, oil and Worcestershire sauce, stirring until the sugar dissolves.  Place in a container or plastic bag along with the steak, and let marinate in the fridge for at least a day.  (Mine went for 8 hours.)

After the steak has marinated, preheat your grill and allow the steak to warm to room temp.  Cook the steak 3 to 5  minutes per side, depending upon the size and your preference.  (Mine was 1 1/2 lbs and it cooked for 10 minutes.)  If you don't want to grill, you can sear the steak in a hot, oiled cast-iron skillet for about the same amount of time.  When your steak has cooked, set aside and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing.  (FYI, this meat was amazingly good.  Could pull it's own weight as a main dish with rice and a veggie.)

  To make dressing:  Place the dressing ingredients in a small container and shake until emulsified.  Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

To make salad:  Arrange the arugula in a serving bowl, and top with the avocado, blue cheese and tomatoes.  When the steak has rested, slice into bite-sized pieces.  If the entire salad will be eaten right away, top with the dressing, otherwise, serve dressing on the side.

For the kids, they're anti-lettuce lately, so I just gave them everything separate on their plates.  I bought Safeway's Asiago Foccacia to go with our salad.  When I sat down to the table, the first thing The Girl said was, Mom, you've gotta try this bread.  It's friggin' good!  Um, yeah, she said friggin'.  She proceeded to talk about how good the bread was throughout the meal.  She pointed out several times that it was covered in cheese.  Clearly she is my offspring. 

Here's a virtual taste:

For the meat-free eaters in the crowd, here's a peek at the salad, cow free:

Here's dinner on my plate: