Dressing Up 1

Quick and Easy Steak and Salad with Balsamic Shallot Dressing

Here is another super fast, easy, and delicious meal. It's all about the salad dressing. I never buy salad dressing from the store. It's so fast and tasty to make it yourself because you can make it exactly the way you like and there are thousands of dressings and sauce variations that can be made from the simple oil and vinegar ratio (3 parts oil to 2 parts vinegar). This is Part 1 in my many, many part series on dressings. One of the great things about this meal is that it is so versatile. Greens and berries can be swapped for whatever is seasonal, steak can be swapped for sliced chicken breast or seared salmon . . . whatever! Trust your own taste buds and make it the way you like it. This is just one of my gazillion variations of this recipe. Yum.

Please note, I prefer my steaks bloody rare, but cook it to your desired doneness. I find that searing the meat and letting it rest under tented foil for about five minutes makes for a juicy steak even if I buy a really cheap cut of meat (which I usually do because I'm poor and I still like to eat good food).

Ingredients
- 2 7 oz. strip steaks (Or whatever is on sale. Really.)
- 1 5 oz. bag mixed baby greens
- 1 c. strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1 medium avocado, peeled, pitted, halved, and sliced
- 1 small cucumber, sliced
- 5 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp. Dijon mustard
- 2 tsp. honey
- 1 large shallot, peeled and minced
- salt and pepper

Pat steaks dry with a paper towel then season both sides with salt and pepper. Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in medium pan over medium-high heat. Sear steaks in pan (1-2 minutes per side for rare). Remove steaks from heat, place on plate, and tent with foil. Let steaks rest about 5 minutes.

Toss together greens, avocado, strawberries, and cucumbers in medium bowl. Set aside. Put honey, vinegar, shallot, and mustard in a small bowl. Whisk in remaining 3 Tbsp. of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour about 2/3 of the dressing over salad mixture and toss to combine. Divide salad among two plates.

After steaks have rested (really this is an important step to keep them juicy), thinly slice across the grain. Top salad with sliced steak and then top each steak with remaining dressing. Eat. It's delicious. You'll love it.