Mmmm, Meaty Salad

Thanks to Real Simple for a very beefy June issue. It inspired my dinner tonight, but of course I couldn’t follow the recipe exactly as written. The original called for skirt steak. First, I can’t find skirt steak all the time and second, there are so many great beef cuts—why limit myself? So I went to the store and they had Flat Iron on sale. It’s a pretty new cut, so you may not be familiar with it. It's usually vacuum packed in the meat cases. Here’s a picture of it.

Beef Flat Iron

It’s a nice lean cut and if it’s been cut right, it should have very little connective tissue. It performs best at medium rare, so be careful not to overcook it.

Steak and Grilled Vegetable Salad

1 pound beef flat iron (sub skirt or flank steak if you like)
1 large red onion, cut into ½ inch rounds
1 pound white mushrooms, halved
1 pound green beans, cleaned and trimmed
3 roma tomatoes, ½ inch slices then quartered
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
Salt and pepper
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, divided
4 cups arugula (or you could use watercress or spinach or romaine)

Heat grill to medium heat. (I used an indoor grill pan because I was out of propane) Toss cut vegetables into large bowl and coat well with 1 Tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill each vegetable, except tomatoes, until crisp tender 8-12 minutes. Grill flat iron, brushing lightly with 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, 5-7 minutes on each side until internal temperature reaches 145°F (med rare). Lightly grill tomatoes during the last 3 minutes. Remove beef and let rest at least 5 minutes before slicing against the grain into thin slices. Place ¼ of the vegetables atop 1 cup of arugula. Lay 5-7 slices of beef on top of salad. Drizzle remaining olive oil and vinegar on top of salads.

Makes 4 servings.

My grill pan--love it!

All my finished grilled vegetables

This was a beautiful dish. They say you eat with your eyes first and in this case your eyes will make your mouth water. The peppery-ness of the arugula added a nice touch. I chose a beer to pair with the meal tonight only because I was out of wine and a beer sounded so good after mowing my lawn.

If you’re counting points, I counted 5 points for one serving. I’m satisfied and full.

A beautiful dish, if I do say so myself