Let the salad-fest continue

 

 

If all salads tasted like this one, I think I could live on salad. OK, as long as it was interspersed with the odd pizza, muffin, cupcake, side of fries.... etc. But you get my drift. Salads can be pretty delicious, and this one fits that bill. Again, to satisfy the appetites that gather around my table, I did have to add bread, but I managed to avoid partaking myself, thus rounding off my week of cutting down quite nicely. Those dusty scales in the bathroom are still glaring at me, but I do feel at least a little virtuous.

The recipe for this one is a combo - underneath is a Tex Mex salad recipe I clipped from an 'Easy Sides' section in a recent Food Network Magazine. On top is some marinated flank steak aka carne asada, the marinade for which comes from a lovely little book called 500 Barbecue Dishes. It bills itself ambitiously as "The only barbecue compendium you'll ever need". Clearly the publisher doesn't know anyone with a cookbook addiction like mine. Let's just say, it isn't my only BBQ book, but it is a good one.

Tex Mex Salad with Carne Asada
Serves 6

Meat:
1/2 cup tequila
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup grated onion
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 lbs flank steak

Salad:
1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
1 cup chopped plum/Roma tomato
1 cup chopped scallions/green/spring onions
1 cup chopped cilantro/coriander leaves
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Dressing:
1 cup light sour cream
3-4 TBSP lime juice
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt

1. Mix up all the ingredients for the marinade, reserving 1/4 cup of the marinade in a separate tub. Pour remaining marinade into a Ziploc bag, add the meat and marinate for at least 4 hours, and preferably overnight. Turn the bag occasionally if possible.
2. To make the salad dressing: Whisk together sour cream, lime juice (to taste), sugar and salt in a small bowl.
3. Assemble the salad in a large bowl.
4. Remove meat from the bag and discard marinade. Cook the meat over a medium grill to your liking (me, I like my cooked animal not to bleed any more...), brushing it with the reserved marinade as you grill.
5. At last minute, toss salad with dressing.
6. Slice steak thinly and serve on top of a bed of salad on each plate. And if you want it to look even more beautiful, then sprinkle with additional cheese and cilantro :-)