Southwest Flank Steak Salad

This weekend I tried out a new recipe I sort of made up on my own. And it was a huge hit.

::victory lap::

Phew! I was worried that after spending a pretty penny on a piece of flank steak it was going to turn out not so yummy. But thankfully, it was a delicious meal with plenty of left overs! I love left overs, means less cooking and cleaning during the week and good lunches to take to work too, which saves me lots of money each month. Think about it, here in DC the food trucks are everywhere (and a lot of them are delicious too), but each meal costs you about $10. Do that for every lunch and you are easily spending $50 a week and $200 a month! That's a lot!

I am often too tired after work to cook elaborate meals, especially after coming back from the gym. But the time spent making one big meal with lots of left overs is worth the amount of money I could potentially save up each month. I'm always looking for new recipes for lunch leftovers and I have been seeing a lot of Pinterest pics for a Southwest type salad. A lot of them look delicious, but once I would read the ingredients I was quickly disappointed at how few ingredients there were or how bland the dressing and steak seasoning was. So I decided to make up my own steak salad and search for a salad dressing with great reviews. That's when I found the recipe for the Cheesecake Factory's Santa Fe salad dressing. It had great reviews, the ingredients were easy to find and the prep time was quick. Best of all, it was the perfect choice for the salad and steak.

So here we go, the ingredients and directions for how to make my version of a Southwest Flank Steak Salad.

Ingredients for the salad and steak (makes enough for 4-6 people)

• 4 corns on the cob
• 2 bell peppers (I used red and green)
• 1 can of black beans (drained)
• 1 cup of shredded carrots
• 1 bunch of scallions (diced)
• half a red onion (diced)
• 1-2 heads of iceberg lettuce
• 1-2 packets of spinach and romaine lettuce 
• 1 lbs of flank steak (you can use any type of steak, but flank has less fat than skirt steak and is cheaper than tenderloin, I spent $14 for the lb at Whole Foods but check out Costco or other stores for better deals)
• 1 bottle of Stubb's Texas Steakhouse meat marinade (I used maybe a quarter of the bottle)
• 1 avocado
• 1 small container of cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions

• Place the steak in a zip lock bag and pour some of the Stubb's marinade to coat the steak. Let it marinade in the fridge overnight or for a few hours. 30 min minimum. 
• Rinse and chop up all the vegetables (except the corn and peppers) into bite size pieces and put them in a bowl. 
• Add the shredded carrots and the well drained black beans into the bowl. 
• Add as much lettuce as you want, I added about 2 heads of iceberg lettuce mixed with 1 large basket size packet of spinach and romaine lettuce. 
• Cut the peppers in half, seeded.
• Rub olive oil, salt and black pepper all over each corn until well coated.
• Take the peppers and the corn to the grill and cook until done. Make sure to turn them to each side for an even cook
• Once the peppers and corn are done, cut the peppers into bite size pieces and with a knife, cut the corn from the cob. Add them to the salad bowl. 
• Grill the steak on med-high and turn on each side for a few minutes until cooked. I cooked mine medium to medium well. About 5 minutes on each side, depending on your grill. Slice the meat into pieces and add to the salad

For the dressing

• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1tbsp minced fresh ginger
• 1 big bunch of cilantro (most of stalk ends chopped off)
• 1/2 cup of fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 tsp of wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp of cumin
• 3/4 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tbsp of honey
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of peanut butter

Mince the garlic and ginger in a food processor. Add the cilantro and process until finely chopped. Add spices, lime juice, vinegar, honey and cheese. Process until well mixed. Slowly pour the olive oil and let mix in the processor for 1 more minute. Finally, add the peanut butter, mix until everything is well blended. The dressing will be green and thick, but very delicious!

Add the dressing to your salad, mix well and serve! I served mine with some tortilla chips and salsa on the side and sparkling water ($.79 at Trader Joe's). Pretty quick and easy to make this meal and it is great as left overs too.