steak salad

As I said in my last post, this salad, originally from Smitten Kitchen, has become a weeknight staple around our house. It's easy to throw together after a long day and feels fairly healthful, because of its low meat to vegetable ratio.

I tweaked the recipe a bit for our dinner with Martha, based on a trattoria-inspired recipe from Epicurious. Before you grill the steak, the recipe instructs you to warm a clove of garlic and a spring of rosemary in some oil, infusing it with flavor. Then you discard the garlic and rosemary and cook the steak. It's a small thing, but one of those steps that really counts, resulting in a very flavorful piece of meat.

I kept the salad dressing recipe from Smitten Kitchen as-is because it's perfect. The savory, umami-rich kick from Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce pairs perfectly with the steak and blue cheese.

To assemble the salad, simply dress your greens, slide the strips of sliced steak on top and sprinkle liberally with grilled onions and blue cheese crumbles. The original SK recipe calls for halved cherry tomatoes, which you could add as well. Some roasted bell pepper slices would be nice too, I bet.

Steak salad with blue cheese and sauteed onions
Adapted from Gourmet (via Epicurious) and Smitten Kitchen
(Serves 4 people)

For the salad:
7 oz. baby arugula
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 large sprig fresh rosemary, plus 1 tsp. fresh rosemary, minced.
1 lb. skirt steak, trimmed of excess fat (if necessary), halved crosswise, at room temperature
1 large onion, sliced into 1/2-inch slices
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (or more, to taste)

For the dressing:

1 Tbsp. coarse Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. honey
1/3 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the oil with the garlic and rosemary in a 12-inch heavy skillet over high heat, turning garlic once or twice, until the garlic is golden, about 4 minutes. Discard garlic and rosemary.

Season the meat with salt and pepper. Add the meat to the skillet all at once and do not move it for 5 minutes. Turn it once, and cook for another 3 minutes for medium-rare. (You may need to cook your steak halves separately, depending on the size of your pan.) When the steak is done, transfer it to a cutting board and let it rest, loosely covered in foil, for 5 minutes.

While the steak is resting, reduce the heat to medium and use the same pan to cook your onions in the pan juices. Add the onions and minced rosemary. Saute until the onions are soft and brown, about 10 minutes. Set aside the onions to cool a little bit.

Whisk all of the salad dressing ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the arugula, and gently toss the greens with tongs, making sure they are evenly coated. Mound the salad on a big platter. Arrange the steak over the salad, then top with the onions and blue cheese. Serve immediately.