First of all, Happy Father’s Day to the dads! I’m cooking dinner over here for my own special dad and will be hooking him up with this healthy salad. Grilling up a hunk of meat and serving it atop a bed of leafy greens is definitely my specialty – you could say I’m an expert and an addict! As far as obsessions go, at least it’s a healthy one and I’m super excited to share it with my father and the other dads in my life.
Message fpr Dad’s Birthday “You are a Prime Cut aged to perfection.”
If I had my way, I’d be grilling a juicy, tender USDA Prime tenderloin for my salad every night – ahh, but I have children going to college. I know my dad understands — if he doesn’t I hope he remember how I hooked him up with some of the best ribeyes for his birthday.
However, using a marinade is a simple solution that transforms a tough (and thusly less expensive) cut of beef into delicious, succulent slices of heaven for your salad – or any type meal. The acidic liquids used in marinade help to break down tough muscle fibers found in beef cuts like chuck, round, flank, skirt and others. These toothsome cuts can be marinated for a minimum of 4 hours to 24 hours to improve tenderness and add flavor – don’t marinate any longer though because the texture will turn mushy. Inherently tender cuts of beef (like tenderloin, ribeyes and such) can be marinated too, but just to add flavor –the optimal time is about 30 mintutes of soak time, don’t go any longer than 2 hours because of the mush factor. Oh, and when marinating for any purpose, always keep meat soaking in the fridge (not on the counter) and discard any marinade that has come into contact with raw meat.
I’ve been putting together a post for BeefLovingTexans.com on Marinating Beef 101 – it’s yet to be published, I’ll let you know when it is! In the meantime, check out the Basic Beef Marinade Recipe I put together for them (and also the one I use in the recipe below). What I love about this super simple marinade recipe is that it is fantastic “as-is,” but can be spiced up with your choosing of any herb, seasoning, alternate juice or fermented sauce. The possibilities are endless, just stick to the “one-third, one-third, one-third” format.
- 1.5 lbs flank steak, trimmed
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
- 4 lemons halved
- 1 large red onion sliced crosswise into 1/2 thick dics
- 1 bunch green onion with green tops
- 2 large persimmons halved
- 4 ounces crumbled feta cheese
- 8 - 10 ounces baby spring mix lettuce
- 1/2 cup viniagrette of choice I used Litehouse Foods Lemon Tuscan Herb
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1 1.5 lb flank steak ¼ cup fresh lemon juice ¼ cup soy sauce ¼ cup olive oil 1 tablespoon crushed garlic 4 lemons, halved 1 large red onion, sliced crosswise into 4 thick disks 1 bunch green onions with tops 2 persimmons (or can substitute peaches or another fruit of choice) 4 ounces crumbled Feta cheese
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Add trimmed flank steak, lemon juice, soy sauce, olive oil and garlic to zip top bag. Seal closed and turn several times to coat meat. Place in refrigerator to marinate for 6 hours to over night. Remove and discard all marinade, pat beef dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
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Bring grill to approximately 400 F degrees and grill flank steak for approximately 10 - 12 minutes, turning halfway through. Steak will be done at medium rare when instant-read meat thermometer pulls at 135 F degrees in thickest part of steak. Set on cutting board and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
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Ten minutes into grilling, add lemons,red onion and persimmons cut side down on grates. Grill alongside beef and remove when softening and have grate marks. Toss on green onions during last 2 minutes of grilling, they will cook fast.
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Remove veggies from grill, let cool a bit and then slice up into desired size. Add to platter of spring mix lettuce.
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Slice flank steak thinly across the grain. Add to top of salad, sprinkle with feta cheese and serve with dressing of choice.
