Chili Lime Steak Salad

I'm not a huge fan of just eating steak....yes, man friends - this is an OUTRAGE!  I have to complete the meal with something else besides a slab of meat staring at me - SO whenever Ross starts to crave STEAK for dinner - I go looking for a recipe / marinade / something to go with it.  This one was super good!!  It was really easy - and it was super good leftover....I'm not usually a fan of eating steak leftover (something about the fat tendons or something being cold...) - but because they were all sliced up and in salad form - it was really good for lunch the next day too!!  Do it up :)

Makes 6-8 servings OBB

Ingredients (marinade):

1 t chili powder
1 t granulated garlic
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t oregano
1/8- 1/4 t cayenne pepper
3/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
1 lime (about 2 T lime juice)
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1-2 lbs flank steak, or other good grilling cut

Juice the lime into a small bowl. Add oil and spices and stir to combine.  Place the steak in a shallow dish and pour the spice mixture on top. Now is the time to make friends with that hunk of beef. Use your hands to massage it in there. Trust me- your hands work a lot better than smooshing it around in a ziplock bag. Don’t be afraid!  Let it sit for 15 minutes.

Place meat on hot grill (bbq is best, but an indoor grill pan or broiler will work just fine too). If you’re using flank steak it should take about 5-7 minutes on each side.  When steak is finished, remove from grill and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting into it. Otherwise all of the juices will run out and you’ll be stuck with dry steak. And who wants to eat dry steak? Slice in strips against the grain.


Ingredients (salad):
1 recipe Creamy Cilantro-Lime Ranch Dressing
1 large head romaine lettuce
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 red onion, sliced thin
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed in cold water
1-2 avocados, sliced
cilantro for garnish

You know how to make a salad, right?? Start with a nice bed of cold, crunchy lettuce, top with tomatoes (cut in half), sliced onion, black beans, avocado and smother it in the best dressing ever. Sprinkle on some cilantro. Oh ya, and don’t forget the steak like I just did while writing this. It’s kind of important. I like it warm, but you can use leftovers and have it chilled too. Yummy yummy.