It was another one of those crazy days and also the beginning of a harried week. I hadn’t had a chance to go shopping over the weekend, so provisions were low. As I drove home I was thinking about what to make for dinner so I wouldn’t have to make a pit stop at my local fast food burger joint.
I pulled into the grocery parking lot and quickly started to run some ideas through my head…what was I in the mood for? After reviewing some of usual quick meals that I have come to rely on, I ultimately decided on some meat since I had not had it in a while. Once in the store, I made my way to the butcher shop and eyed a few steaks…they just happened to be a little too big for my liking. As I reviewed some of the other choices, I saw a few pieces of organic strip steak that the butcher had just put out. It was reasonably priced and I decided that the star of the show this evening was going to be a fajita salad.
For those of you unfamiliar with skirt steak, it is a long flat cut that is prized for its flavor rather than tenderness. Some people use the term flank steak interchangeably with skirt steak, but flank steak is altogether a different cut of meat.
A friend of mine who owns Bandiola Spice Company recently sent me some assorted samples and in the box was a sample of his steak essence…brilliant. I didn’t even have to think about marinating the meat, tonight I was going to try out his spice blend.
Skirt steak is the meat of choice to make fajitas and also used in Chinese stir-fry. To minimize their toughness skirt steaks are either grilled or pan-seared very quickly or cooked very slowly.
Because of their strong graining skirt steak is sliced across/against the grain for maximum tenderness. To aid in the tenderness, many people also marinate skirt steak for a few hours or overnight preferably.
After arriving home with my purchases, I rinsed and dried off the meat, added a little olive oil and thickly coated the entire strip steak with the Bandiola steak essence on both sides. I refrigerated the meat while I prepared the salad. The meat cooks very quickly because it is so thinly sliced, and the spice mix was a perfect addition…a perfect meal in just under 30 minutes! Rachel would be proud…
Skirt Steak Salad
1 piece of skirt steak
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons Bandiola Steak Essence
S&P to taste
1 small romaine, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
½ hydroponic cucumber, sliced or diced
¼ cup marinated artichoke hearts, finely chopped
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
Finely sliced or diced sweet onion ***optional
¼ cup olive oil
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, finely chopped
S&P to taste (start with ¼ teaspoon of each)
First rinse and dry your meat and coat it on both sides, coat it with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and then the steak spice and refrigerate. Next make your dressing using the ¼ cup olive oil, juice and zest of the lemon, salt and pepper and lastly the fresh parsley then set aside.
Then prepare your salad by cleaning and chopping all of your vegetables. Do not dress your salad until the very last moment or the dressing will cause it to wilt.
In a hot skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, quickly sear the meat. It will take about 5-7 minutes on each side for a perfect medium rare, which is what it should ultimately be. Remove from the skillet and let it rest for another 5 minutes before slicing. Remember to slice against the grain for best results.
Then toss all of the salad ingredients together, top with the sliced meat and VOILA! You’ve got a delicious hassle free dinner in no time flat. Rachel would be proud…
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