Black & blue salad

I don't eat red meat often, but every so often I get a craving for a yummy medium-rare steak. With this salad, you can feed about four to six people with one 1 lb. New York strip as the steak is pan-seared and sliced thin.

When I was in college, I worked at a restaurant called O'Charley's. If there's not one near you, it's kind of like an Applebee's or Ruby Tuesday's. Among many things on the menu during that time was a steak and bleu cheese salad that I would occasionally order at the end of my shift. As most foodies who cook will tell you, after that first bite, you start to deconstruct the dish to see if you can make it at home. I don't know if this salad is still available at O'Charley's as three years of working there kind of sent me in another culinary direction, but I think that most similarities end with the lettuce, steak, and cheese.

+/- 1 lb. New York strip (filet mignon or sirloin can also be substituted)

balsamic vinegar

extra virgin olive oil

minced garlic

brown sugar

rosemary

thyme

parsley

spicy brown mustard

kosher salt

black pepper

several romaine lettuce hearts (or lettuce of your choice)

shelled roasted pistachios

strawberries

purple, yellow, or white onion

alfalfa sprouts (radish or broccoli sprouts would be nice too)

Begin by preparing the marinade for your steak: 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup of olive oil, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, 3 tablespoons of minced garlic, and 1 teaspoon of thyme. Poke your steak vigorously with a fork many times front and back...not only will the marinade will seep into the little holes, it also functions to tenderize your steak without using any meat tenderizer. Place fork-tenderized steak into marinade and refrigerate four to six hours, turning every two to three hours.

When the marination time is complete, allow the steak to rest in its marinade at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Heat a non-stick skillet to medium-high. When the pan is hot (not before), place the steak into the skillet. Sear on both sides about four to five minutes, spooning marinade onto the steak every so often. While the steak is finishing, add one whole slivered onion to the pan and caramelize the onions in the pan leavings. Remove the steak from heat and allow to rest two to three minutes then slice as thin as possible. (If you don't like medium-rare, please cook it longer...just remember that the longer you cook it, the less tender it is.)

To create the salad base, for each person I take a whole romaine heart and just chop it cross-wise all the way down to create 1 inch thick ribbons. I usually add a couple of length-wise chops too to bring the lettuce ribbons down closer to bite-size. Plate your lettuce and add about 1/8 to 1/4 cup of pistachios to each plate. Garnish with sliced strawberries, caramelized onions, and sprouts. Add mustard salad-dressing, then top with steak slices and bleu cheese crumbles.

To make the salad dressing, combine 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard with 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar. Add 1 tablespoon each parsley, rosemary and thyme (if only there were sage, I could sing!), 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Add 1/4 cup olive oil if desired (I didn't, but it would be yummy). Mix well.