Maybe that title is a mouthful, but so is this dish. It screamed summer to me, which was absolutely what I needed as school wrapped up and the days have gotten a little longer.
I can't get enough of the grilled summer vegetables lately, and it seems like with the right sides, I can actually get the kids to eat them. Yay me! So it was time to whip up another batch anyways.
This salad is hearty, savory, has just a little bit of asian inspiration and the dressing reminds me of a much cleaner version of the Wonton Chicken Salad from Sweet Tomatoes. Because yes, I worked there as a bus girl when I was 15 and 16 and my best friend and I loved the place! I highly recommend it :)
So let's get started.
I'll be completely transparent, I've been buying flank steak over skirt steak for years. If you marinate it just right, and for two days, it's super tender. It's also highly lean plus, buying in bulk from Costco saves us a bit of money. Our kids actually really enjoy steak too, so it's nice I can make a bit slab of it and everyone will eat up.
This marinade, while looking a tad intimidating, is pretty simple. I marinaded the steak for two days, but one day is fine too. Using a variety of citrus, oils and some red wine vinegar with the addition of some cilantro gives you a really nicely flavored slab of meat. Don't skip on the toasted sesame oil. It really gives it a good kick of flavor that you can't replicate!
Mix it up, and add in your cilantro. In a glass dish, cover the meat with the marinade and cover in saran wrap for 1-2 days.
After the steak is all marinaded up, remove from the fridge and let it come to room temperature. I do this so I can get an even better sear on the steak. I love me some good grill marks. While the steak comes to temp, get the grill pre-heated. I like to grill this at around 650°, so definitely used a propane or charcoal grill for this cut of meat.
While the steak cooked, I drizzled my summer vegetables with some olive oil, cracked black pepper and Himalayan Sea Salt, gave those a quick toss, and grilled them up on a grill pan. I used zucchini, mushrooms and red onions, so about 10 minutes total and these should be good to go. Grill longer if you want them softer. Set aside.
Next up was the Halloumi. Now, if you don't know what it is, or it intimidates you, please try it. It's salty and squeaks on your teeth like fresh cheese curds from Wisconsin. Plus it's sheep's milk cheese, which I find superior, but you decide.
Covering it in a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper (not necessary but recommended), I added it to my grill. Keeping the grill cover open, I seared it for 30 seconds and flipped quickly so that it doesn't stick to the grates. This is why the olive oil is an important step. I repeated this until I had the desired grill marks, let it cool and cubed it up.
And while all this was going on? I threw some quinoa into the InstantPot. It's my favorite way to make it, but following the directions on the back of the box or bag works too. With the InstantPot verison, I just rinse the quinoa, add 1 cup into the IP, 1 1/2 cups of water, a bit of salt and pepper and cook on high pressure for 3 minutes. Then I let the pressure naturally release for 8 minutes before hitting the quick release button and simply fluff with a fork. I love it. Plus my little guy loves quinoa. Will literally lick his plate which is hilarious because it took me a year or two to really start to enjoy it. :)
Next up, the dressing. Gah this was so good! I can't wait to make it again. We ate it on the last of our grilled summer veggies another night. It was out of this world.
I used a stick blender to combine all of the ingredients and don't regret it one bit. It gave it a delicious creaminess and helped the coconut aminos incorporate better as well as the oil, vinegar and coconut aminos was separating a bit. If you want to just whisk it, that's definitely OK as well.
After my steak rested for around 10 minutes, I sliced it against the grain. I like mine right around medium rare but am OK with going up to medium. This was perfect for us.
Now it's time to assemble! I sliced up some butter lettuce, cherry tomatoes and green onions to give it a little bit of crunch and a pop of color. Using the quinoa as the base, I layered in the rest of the vegetables, the steak, the Halloumi and topped with the dressing.
Then in reality, I mixed it up into a big mess to enjoy and every bite had exactly what I was looking for :)
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