Yesterday was the hottest day of the year so far, and my husband suddenly decided he wanted a big fat steak and a loaded baked potato for dinner. Plus it was a Thursday night. That just seemed all wrong to me. I grew up in a house where steak night was always a Saturday and then pretty much for adults only. In fact I may have thought that 18 was the legal age for eating steak!
My son said he just wanted a salad – he still eats like he’s in LA. His friends who were coming over to watch the games (yes, we had dueling TVs going on) are usually pretty happy to just get free food, but don’t necessarily consider a salad to actually be real food. I had a challenge. That’s how Loaded Potato and Steak Salad came to be on our dinner menu.
One of my lazy food strategies is to always keep a handful of new potatoes stashed away for those nights when I’m late getting a meal started and don’t really have a plan. It’s so easy to preheat the oven, quarter a few potatoes, add garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and 20 minutes later roasted potatoes smell divine and can perk up leftovers – chili cheese potatoes anyone? Or they might just inspire something simple, like a quick omelet. The good news about this Loaded Baked Potato and Steak Salad is that really it only takes about 20 minutes to put together. When you think about the flavors of loaded baked potatoes and steak it’s pretty easy to imagine that as a salad. I cooked a bit of bacon for the loaded potato part of the salad. In the same skillet, I seared a sirloin steak seasoned only with a bit of salt and pepper and let it rest while I made a dressing. That part was inspired by the baked potato idea, so of course the base was sour cream mixed with a bit of vinegar, olive oil, green onions, garlic salt and I admit it - a spoon of bacon grease for a blast of flavor. That’s it! Well, except for the lettuce and a tasty sprinkle of grated cheddar cheese. Yum! That’s how to have a steak dinner for a crowd on a hot summer night without spending a fortune on the steak and hours in the kitchen. The guys loved it, I loved it – this one is a keeper on our summer menu plan. Steak isn’t just for Saturdays any more!
Loaded Baked Potato and Steak Salad
Ingredients
10 new potatoes, quartered (2 or 3 per person)
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp each, salt and pepper
8 strips of bacon
1½ lb sirloin steak
1 cup sour cream
1 bunch of green onions, sliced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp garlic salt
1 tsp pepper
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
For salad: Chopped romaine lettuce or spinach
Optional: Sliced onion, tomatoes, black olives, croutons
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Line a roasting pan with aluminum foil for easy cleanup.
Toss quartered potatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper together in the pan and roast for 20 minutes.
In a large skillet cook bacon over medium high heat.
Remove cooked bacon from skillet reserving 1 Tbsp of bacon grease.
Crumble cooled bacon.
Season the steak generously with salt and pepper and in the same skillet, sear over high heat on both sides to desired degree of doneness. (3 to 4 minutes a side for us)
Remove steak to a cutting board and let it rest while you make the dressing.
In a small bowl, mix sour cream, 2 to 3 Tbsp chopped green onion, olive oil, vinegar, garlic salt, pepper and about 1 Tbsp of bacon grease.
Slice steak into very thin pieces.
I let everyone assemble their salad by providing a large bowl of chopped lettuce, grated cheese, and salad toppings, along with the potatoes, steak, dressing, and crumbled bacon.
