Chili-Lime Steak Salad

I was in the mood for taco salad and ended up coming across this recipe. I’m so glad I did too. It looks like a lot of steps but really, it comes together super easy. Make your dressing at least an hour before you start the rest of it. Take care of the steak and while the steak is grilling & resting, prep the rest of your veggies. In this link, you’ll find the main recipe with links to the dressing and steak rub.

Cancy & I both really liked this. It’s definitely going to be put on the menu again soon.

Chili-Lime Steak Salad

1 1/2 lb flank steak, cooked with lime-chile rub and sliced into 1/4" slices
1 recipe Creamy Lime-Cilantro 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

Start with a nice bed of cold, crunchy lettuce, top with steak, tomatoes, onion, black beans, and avocado.  Top with cilantro and fried tortilla strips if desired.  Serve with lime-cilantro dressing

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (ignore directions on the packet)
1C mayo
1/2 C milk
1 lime
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 C green salsa
hot sauce

Place milk, mayo, and ranch mix in a blender.   Juice the lime in there too, you should get about 2T juice.  Toss in the garlic, cilantro and green salsa.  Blend 'er up.  Sample it and add hot sauce to taste.  Make it several hours ahead of time to allow it to thicken.

Lime-Chili Steak Rub

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
*If you have chipotle chili powder, you can substitute it for the cayenne or just add a little in addition
1 lime (about 2 T lime juice)
1-2 lbs flank steak, or other good grilling cut

Juice the lime into a small bowl. Add spices and stir to combine. Some limes have more juice than others, so sometimes the mixture will be more liquid-y and sometimes it will be more pasty. If you find you're a little short on lime juice, just add a teaspoon or two of extra virgin olive oil to stretch it out.

Place the steak in a shallow dish and pour the spice mixture on top. Use your hands to massage it in there.

Let it sit for 15 minutes. During that time preheat your grill.

Place meat on hot grill. 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.  Slice in strips against the grain.