Have you ever come home from a hard day at the office only to find out that your significant other is preparing “salad” for dinner? You retire to the closet and begin peeling off your work uniform which feels welded to your body, but you remain forever optimistic, just hoping on hope that somehow she found that thick and gently smoked leftover Porterhouse steak in the refrigerator, and she’s decided to use it in her idea for a dinner salad. You’re completely wrong – she’s not going to [use it]. She wouldn’t dream of using that yucky old thing. No she’s inventing one of those salads you’ve never heard of along with some creamy dressing that [you guessed it], you’ve never heard of either. Take heed as you’re not alone my man. I have just the thing that can cure those “fluffy” salad [for dinner] blues you’re feeling about now. You’re right about one thing, it’s time to forget salads with pieces of hard-boiled egg , crunchy croutons and creamy Ranch dressing along with sprouting thing-a-ma-jigs no one’s ever heard of. It’s time to show her what you’re made of – the carnivore you truly are!

Men yearn for the freedom to go bold, go manly [even when it comes to salad]. We don’t care for fluffy crap that can’t feed the ego, we need bold, serious flavor, it creates this beautiful thing traveling all the way down to the lining in our stomach. Flavors that remind us of why we’re alive damn-it! 🙂 Even if it is only until she turns on that romance movie you promised you would watch [with her]. Remember? It’s okay, I get it, I get it. Read on though as maybe I can at least cure those wimpy salad blues you’re feeling, and once and for all.

Background:
You grilled a thick steak a few days ago and couldn’t eat it all, or you went to dinner at a great steakhouse and brought home that piece of steak, stuck in the fridge without a clue of what to do with it next. Maybe it’s time to make a steak salad…
In the photo I used a Porterhouse steak remnant I had marinated for a couple hours [google for marinades] before placing it on the grill. It slow smoked for around 45-50 minutes, and as you can see it’s still pink in the middle. What you never want to do is place leftover steak in the oven and re-heat it, not only does it tend to come out tough, the smoke flavor from the grill could vanish completely. I’ve been there, done that. And don’t kill a steak either, remember that it’s already been killed once, don’t kill it again by over-cooking it. If you’re a person that eats meat “well done” you’re wasting money on steak because you’re missing the point entirely. Stay with cheaper meats like hamburger if you like everything “well-done”. Back to this Porterhouse, this cut of steak is defined by a bone running down the center, the larger side will be New York strip and the smaller side is always tenderloin. I used the NY strip [side] leftover for the salad pictured. It’s not often that I place a steak on the grill, I will only do that when it’s a thick cut, otherwise we will create a piece of dried out leather.

More on steak do’s and don’ts –
For a steak salad from a leftover you’ll want to trim the fat so really NY strip or tenderloin are going to be your two best choices, a ribeye is great but will be much more marbled with fat. Whenever I grill a steak it’s just like in the oven as my goal is always medium rare, just enough time to capture some good smoke flavor on the pit using mesquite wood. On beef I found the best woods to use are mesquite, oak, and maybe hickory, even mixing these can produce a great flavor. I have heard some people say cherry wood is good too. Be careful when using only oak as it can produce a very tart taste. For that reason I’ll typically use oak only when grilling burgers [because they’re not on for that long].

Guess what? Now it’s time to make a steak salad! It’s really quite simple, and delicious. Here are some suggestions to get you started, you can Google highly-rated steak salad recipes and though they vary somewhat you’ll find most have the following ingredients in common.
For the Salad –
Arugula [some stores only carry a spring mix with Arugula leaves in it, that will work too]
Cherry tomatoes for salad
Cucumber
Red Onion
Avocado [good luck on finding one ripe to cut but not so ripe to have rotting black spots]

For the Dressing –
Dijon Mustard
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Honey
Garlic
Lemon [juice]
Dried Oregano
Thyme
Pepper

Mix everything together but the avocado pieces and the strips of leftover steak, you’ll add those on top just before serving. Then drip the dressing over the top of the whole concoction and Wau-Lau! [or something like that]. Now you can enjoy life. Peace out! 😉