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 :)

Thai Beef Salad

The weather in New England has been just amazing this year.  First, we didn't' get any snow even while the South Eastern states were getting pummeled which meant crappy skiing.  Now, its been record highs all summer and let me tell you, there aren't many people in this part of the country with A/C units.  So again, I was forced to come up with a relatively "no-cook" dinner.  I think I would literally die if I had to stand over the stove for longer than 20min in this heat.

Thai Beef Salad
2 servings; 20min

1/2 lb Shaved Beef (or you can get fancy and use skirt steak, I'm just cheap)
1 orange, sectioned (peel and pith removed)

a large handful of snap peas (from my CSA)
1 carrot, peeled and shaved
1 small cucumber, peeled and julienned (from CSA)
1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
1/4 C canola oil (or any light oil)
2-3 scallions,cut into 1/4" pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
2 diced Thai chilies (depends on your preferred heat level)
1/2 C large white beans, rinsed
bagged salad mix
1 lime, quartered, for garnish
a handful of cilantro and mint, for garnish
peanuts or cashews, chopped, for garnish

1) Make the dressing by whisking together the fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and oil.

Creepy label, no? Makes me laugh every time I pull it out of the cupboard!

2) Prepare the salad ingredients

3) Cook the shaved beef quickly over high heat in a lightly oiled skillet.  When done, remove and put to the side.
4) Add the snap peas to the hot pan along with the Thai chilies, scallions, and garlic, 2-3 min.  Add the beans, beef, and fish-sauce dressing to heat through, 2 min.  Remove from heat.

5) Toss the salad greens and some torn cilantro and mint.  Gently mix in the remaining ingredients (carrots, cucumber, snap peas, beans, beef, oranges, etc) and plate.  Garnish with lime wedges and peanuts or cashews if you have them.

We enjoyed this with some cold beverages and a fan blowing in our faces.  Hellloooo summer!