This Grilled Steak Salad is AMAZING!! It is salty, creamy, tangy, smokey and will satisfy every grilling craving you have!!
I am so excited to be in grilling season again. When you live in the suburbs of Chicago, as we do… or anywhere that is cold a good part of the year. You get very excited when it is not cold anymore!
I long for Summer days of being outside with the kids, having the sun still be out at 7p, playing in the water, and most exciting of all… Grilling! I feel like there is nothing like the smell of a grill heating up or charcoal burning. There is something about when someone is grilling and you can smell it down the street. It is like, ummm…. yep, that smells delicious and you do not even know what is cooking!! LOL
Also, in the Summer I love eating vegetables, fruits, lighter than usual foods. It is usually hot and sticky outside. You have either been working all day or outside with the kiddos. Either way, you get home or you start dinner and you want to grill, but you don’t want a super heavy meal. This is the perfect lunch or dinner salad. I love making entree salads in the Summer and this one is almost completely done on the grill.
Tomato Vinaigrette is the kicker here
I love so many different dressings and I totally think that a great dressing can make a whole salad. A not-so-great dressing can also ruin a whole salad. So, do not think that you can just throw any ole’ dressing on a great salad and it will still be great.
I am not a fresh, whole tomato fan. I just have never cared much for the flavor, texture, mouth feel of biting into a fresh tomato. I know, I know… I am a chef and an Italian; how can this be! But it is just the one thing I do not care for. Yet, I love cooked tomatoes in almost any form and I love working with tomatoes to recreate the acidity of them but not biting right into it.
This dressing is the perfect way to incorporate tomatoes into this salad, without just dicing them up or grilling cherry tomatoes and throwing them on top. The punch of acid this gives the salad is perfect.
Grilled Lettuce… seriously?
YES!!!! Putting a little bit of grill or char onto your lettuce gives it an amazing smokey flavor that is incredible. You do not want to grill away all of the crunch, but just some light grill marks before you cut it up and it adds so much to your salad.
In this salad especially because we are using romaine and radicchio lettuce. Getting a nice little char on the outside of these two lettuces make all of the difference in this salad. Especially when you add that acidic dressing and creamy gorgonzola cheese.
Chef’s Tips
For this recipe I have a few tips to make this salad go from amazing to AHMAZING!!!! First, make sure you marinate the steak for at least 6 hours prior to grilling it. It is very important to marinate flank steak or skirt steak. If you do not marinate this steak, it will not be as tender, juicy and flavorful as if you give it some good time to marinate.
The next thing is always make sure you are cutting flank steak against the grain. This will help make sure that the steak is as tender as it can be and you do not have to chew and chew to get through it.
I love serving this salad in a deconstructed manner. I show it that way in the photo and I think it is such a show stopper that way. You can make this salad for a weeknight meal, weekend event or Summer lunch or dinner party and served in this way… it will be an awesome presentation. I also always like to give people options when eating an entree salad. Some people may not like some of the ingredients, so this way people can sort of build their own.
You can also chop everything up, toss it together and lay the steak on top. That would be incredible and beautiful as well. Either way, I hope you ENJOY!
Grilled Steak Salad
Ingredients
- Ingredients
- 2 heads Romaine lettuce cleaned and cut in half lengthwise
- 1 head radicchio lettuce cleaned and cut into quarter wedges
- 1 small bunch green onions
- 1-2 portobello mushrooms depending on size
- 1 leaf crusty Italian bread or ciabatta bread
- 1/2 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
- 1 lb flank steak
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 shallot minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs; parsley basil, oregano, thyme
- 1 fresno chile pepper minced
- 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
- 1 tablespoon agave
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- Kosher Salt to taste
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 roasted tomato vinaigrette recipe
Instructions
- Mix together the minced garlic, minced shallot, chopped herbs, minced chile pepper, vinegar, agave and olive in a plastic zip top bag. Mix it all together and remove about 1-2 tablespoons of the marinade and place it in a dish or another bag. Add the portobello into the small amount of marinade. Place the cleaned flank steak into the remaining marinade and let it sit for at least 6 hours. Up to overnight. The longer it sits, the more flavor it will have and the more tender it will become.
- Make your dressing recipe and make sure it has time to chill in the fridge, at least a few hours.
- Cut the Italian bread or ciabatta bread in half lengthwise. Brush it with a little olive oil, Kosher salt and black pepper. Grill the bread lightly on both sides. Just until you have grill marks and the bread is slightly crisped up. Be careful not to burn. Then cut the bread into 1/2 inch cubes for the croutons of the salad.
- Brush the romaine and the radicchio with a very light layer of olive oil. Lightly grill the romaine and radicchio to create grill marks and get a slightly char. Do not leave them on too long or they will wilt. Remove when they have marks and a light char and then chop into 1/4-1/2 inch chunks.
- Grill the portobello that has been marinating for at least an hour. Grill the mushroom for about 6-8 minute on each side until there are nice grill marks and char but still a little texture to the mushrooms. Slice them thinly on a bias and fan them out.
- Lightly brush or toss the green onions with a little olive oil and Kosher salt and black pepper. Grill them on an angle for about 4-5 minutes until you have marks, a char and they are still slightly crunchy. Remove them from the grill and cut into 4-5 large pieces on the bias.
- Assemble the salad on a platter or a large serving dish. You will place your romaine lettuce, radicchio lettuce next to each other. Lay in the green onions, mushrooms and croutons and then fan out the steak and top with the crumbled gorgonzola cheese. Serve the dressing on the side. ENJOY!
Notes
Roasted tomato vinaigrette
Equipment
- Roasting Pan
- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BJFL1JN/ref=as_sl_pc_as_ss_li_til?tag=happychefma0f-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=c92b247602de89f0374e47c720b4188b&creativeASIN=B09BJFL1JN
- Mini Food Processor
- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06Y2GZWCJ/ref=as_sl_pc_as_ss_li_til?tag=happychefma0f-20&linkCode=w00&linkId=c3ba81ce37906d6f92212947ad4ce782&creativeASIN=B06Y2GZWCJ
Ingredients
- Ingredients
- 1 cup ripe cherry or grape tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup good quality olive oil
- 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 2 teaspoons agave
- 4 tablespoons shallots roasted first
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 8-10 basil leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt more to taste if needed
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Roast the tomatoes with 2 tablespoons of the oil, garlic and shallots in a 400F oven or on the grill at 400F until collapsing, charred and softened. Check at 20 minutes, then check every 5 -10 minutes after until finished.
- 2.Place charred tomato mixture, remaining 1/4 cup oil, vinegar, agave and basil in a blender and blend until combined (but not overly smooth). You do not want chunks, but you want to leave a little texture.
- Jar and Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks. ENJOY!
