steak salad with fennel and pomegranate
I can’t believe that this is the first salad that I am going to post. I love salad above all other meals (most of the time) and eat them all of the time. But I guess this is the first one that seemed “special” enough to share. Usually I go overboard and try to add too many ingredients — use any and all veggies that I have in the house — so I made an effort to keep things simple and it resulted in a delicious dinner.
Happy New Year! Did you all have fun ringing in 2013? I was at work, but it was good non-the-less. So I was still drinking bubbly today to celebrate on a night off. Champagne with pomegranate seeds. Yummy! You could definitely crush and strain the seeds, only adding the juice but I liked biting into one with each sip for a little sweet/tart burst. And it went so well with dinner, something a little different than red wine with steak.
I also did something a little special (for me) with this salad. I made my own dressing! Usually I buy dressing for simplicity sake. But this dressing was so easy to make myself, and tasted at least as good as store-bought that I will have to make this a habit. One less processed item for me! I found the recipe for this balsamic vinaigrette at the Kitchn, the sister food blog to Apartment Therapy. It linked me to a new site, Chinese Grandma. I just put all of the ingredients in a glass jar, shook to emulsify, and it was ready in less than 10 minutes.
STEAK SALAD WITH POMEGRANATE AND FENNEL
4 oz. spring mix and baby spinach salad greens
2 kale leaves, torn
seeds from one pomegranate
1/2 fennel bulb, thinly sliced or shaved
2 fresh dill sprigs
4-6 oz. grilled elk chops, sliced and fanned (or any steak of your choice)
shaved Parmesan to taste
balsamic vinaigrette to taste
Divide salad greens and kale into two bowls. Sprinkle a handful of pomegranate seeds into each. Split fennel evenly. Remove dill weed from stems and add. Top with Parmesan and vinaigrette. Meanwhile, season steaks with salt and pepper. Grill over medium high heat for three minutes each side (for chops about 3/4 inch thick, elk is very lean so DON”T OVERCOOK!). Let sit for a couple of minutes before slicing against the grain. Fan over salads to finish.
I really liked this dish. I’ve been adding dill to all of my salads lately. It just makes everything taste so fresh and delicious. The acidity of the vinaigrette complemented the sweetness of the pomegranate perfectly. The addition of steak makes it worthy of the title “dinner” and I’ve been playing with fennel as a new winter-y ingredient. Voilà! Fancy dinner salad!