Flat Iron Steak Salad w/ a Horseradish Dressing

 

Manly Salad

     We’ve got another healthy recipe for you. Or a semi-healthy one, anyway. Are you getting sick of healthy recipes? Even though this one includes beef and grilling? I know salads get boring…trust me. I’ve been eating enough of them. If you have to eat a salad, why not make it a manly salad with steak? I am sure you women will like it just as much, I know Mrs. G did. 😉

     Don’t get anxious when you see the list of ingredients for this salad. Nothing to be intimidated about. Sure there are a bunch of items, but you can make your salad as simple or as complex as you want. You can opt to use your favorite salad dressing instead of making the Horseradish Dressing, but I highly recommend you try this one. The bite from the horseradish really plays well with the beef.

Red Wine Marinade

• 1 lb flat iron steak
• 2 cups dry red wine
• 4-6 small sprigs fresh rosemary
• 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 white onion, coarsely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

Place your flat iron steak in a large gallon Zip-lock bag. Add in the ingredients for the marinade, squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours up to overnight. When ready to grill, remove the meat, pat dry with a paper towel and apply your favorite steak rub (we used Dizzy Pig’s Raising the Steaks which is similar to a Montreal Steak Seasoning).

Horseradish Dressing

• 1 cup  mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/2 cup grated horseradish (yes, freshly grated, not out of a jar. I’m not sure how much you would use if you use the jarred stuff)
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (we like Louisiana hot sauce, but Franks or Tabasco or whatever you prefer will be fine)

In a mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, garlic, horseradish, lemon juice, Dijon, Worcestershire, and hot sauce. Mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate the dressing for 1 hour.

Salad Options

• mixture of lettuces (we like to use the bags of Spring Mix which has a variety of flavors and textures)
• tomatoes (grape, cherry, plum, whatever you like)
• red onions, thinly sliced
• green onions
• nuts or seeds
• cucumbers
• any other vegetables you may like in your salad
• cheese (freshly shaved Parmesan cheese, Bleu cheese, Gorgonzola or Feta would all work nicely)

Grilling the steak

     Ok, you’ve marinated your steak for at least four hours, you’ve mixed up your dressing and its chilling in the fridge doing its thing, flavors marrying and mingling away. Time to get started. Fire up your gas or charcoal grill to high. My Egg was running about 600F for this cook. Take your flat iron steak out of the marinade and pat dry (wet steaks don’t sear, they steam). Apply your favorite steak rub liberally to both sides and toss it on the grill. You are going to want to grill it for about 4 minutes, flip and continue grilling for another 4 minutes or until it reaches your desired temperature (we were shooting for 135).

This is what ours looked like when we pulled it at 135 and let rest for 10 minutes.

       Now we’ve talked about this before, but let’s go over it one more time. DO NOT slice up your steak when you pull it off the grill. You want all those juices to spill out leaving you with a dried out steak? No? I didn’t think so. Loosely cover your steak with foil and allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes. This will allow the temperature of the steak to carry over a few more degrees, allow the meat to relax and the juices to reabsorb. It is worth it to give it time to rest.

Your patience will be rewarded when you slice into the meat.

     While you are waiting for your meat to rest, go ahead and toss your salad with the horseradish dressing, coating every bite in creamy deliciousness. Maybe scrape down the grates on your grill. Possibly enjoy the remainder of the wine you used in the marinade if you haven’t done so already. Once the meat has rested for 10 minutes, slice it against the grain in thin strips. Cut it on a bias if you are so inclined.

That’s a salad any man can enjoy.

     After you have sliced the meat, pile up your salad on a plate. Lay the strips on top of the salad and then add your cheese. We opted for thin shaved slice of Parmesan cheese for our salad.

Time to enjoy

     We were both extremely happy with this salad. The meat was tender and melted in our mouths. The horseradish dressing paired beautifully with it. Creamy with a bit of tanginess and just the slightest bit of heat. Not to strong, but enough to compliment the beef. It was enough to fill me up and satisfy me.

What I’d do Differently

     I’m not sure I would use the red wine in the marinade. Yes,the acidity and the alcohol helped to tenderize the meat, but it really didn’t add anything flavor wise. No…I think I’ll save the wine for the cook next time and use a different liquid for a tenderizer. I would probably also use the Gorgonzola cheese that I specifically bought for this salad and then promptly forgot. I think it would have gone perfectly with the beef and the horseradish. Whoops on my part.

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