Steak and Potato Salad

Boyfriend and I had a pretty exciting weekend.  A couple birthday parties, a friend in town, etc etc.  Needless to say, we ate terribly and drank far too much.  I usually love to cook, even when I'm hungover.  I find it to be very therapeutic and relaxing.  But this weekend... no.  No energy to even think about cooking.  So what did we do?  The despicable.  Oh yeah.  You know what it is.  We ordered take-out for lunch both Saturday AND Sunday.  Was it Indian and Thai?  Chinese and Pizza?  Nope!  Sushi.  Both times.  FROM THE SAME SUSHI RESTAURANT.  Yeah.  We are officially celebrities at this place.

So by the time Sunday night rolled around I knew I needed to change things up.  Try to force-feed some nutrition back into our bodies.  Not that sushi is bad for you!  Not by any means.... its just that a diet of rice, fish, and salt for 2 days starts to have a significant affect on a person.

I've had a beautiful piece of beef tenderloin hanging out for a month in the freezer.  It is from my meat CSA, and the only reason its lasted as long as it has is because it is rare that I ever cook steak just for one person... and 5-6oz of steak isn't easily separated into 2 servings.

But I finally figured out a way to do it.  Salad.


For the Salad:
6oz beef tenderloin (from my meat CSA)
3-4 C arugula, washed
2oz Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
2 medium sized Yukon gold potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter

For the Salad Dressing:

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp strawberry jelly
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

1) Preheat oven to 425F.
2) Toss potato wedges with olive oil, salt, pepper, and paprika.  Roast in oven for 25-30min or until crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.
3) Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet over med-high heat.
4) Add tenderloin to the skillet, and cook for 3min each side for med-rare (** this is assuming your steak is roughly 1 inch thick... cook your steak to your liking, please!)
5) Let the steak rest for at least 5min, then slice it thinly on the bias.

5) Mix the arugula with the dressing (literally, throw all the dressing ingredients in a tupperware and shake vigorously) and plate.
6) Top the arugula with the potatoes and steak slices.
7) Sprinkle the salad with gorgonzola (1oz per person).

Enjoy!

We drank a couple Harpoon IPA's with this dinner.  A perfect pairing?  No.  Available and fresh out of the "new" kegerator?  Yes indeedy-do!  This dinner was perfect.  It was all the flavors and textures of a "steak and potatoes" dinner, yet significantly more healthy.  I mean, the way it worked out, we each only ate 3oz of steak and a half of a potato... yet both felt as if we'd enjoyed an entire, high-class, steak meal.

I now have a new appreciation for the concept of Salad-for-Dinner.  Learn something new every day :)