Kasey Wilson: Steakhouse Salad is a lighter, healthier, cheaper meal you can make at home

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With rising produce and meat costs, you can still enjoy your steak and all the extras you’d find at your local steakhouse, eating at home. Not only will you save money by preparing and eating at home, but you can also cut your calorie budget in half.

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All you need: steak (of course), crispy potatoes, and creamy blue cheese dressing. This Steakhouse Salad combines all of those favorite ingredients.

For a lighter, healthier and more affordable meal at home, grill a flank steak (a lean cut) and serve it with a grilled tomato and asparagus salad, which is good enough to serve as a starter.

grill salad

1 tablespoon (15 ml) extra virgin olive oil

6 oz (175 g) fingerling potatoes

1 steak (8 oz) (about 1 inch thick), such as strips, top sirloin, or rib eye

1 large garlic clove, pressed

Lettuce leaves to line the plates (about 8), such as green or red leaf lettuce, or oak leaf lettuce

2 tomatoes, cut into 6 wedges

Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing (see recipe below)

2 green onions, thinly sliced

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Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium-heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes, cut side down. Cook potatoes until golden brown on bottom, about 5 minutes. Flip them over and sprinkle with salt. Reduce heat to medium and continue cooking until potatoes are golden brown and tender, about 8 minutes. Flip the potatoes over and remove the skillet from the heat.

Meanwhile, prepare a grill over medium heat or heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Brush both sides of the steak with olive oil and rub with garlic. Sprinkle the steak with salt and pepper. Grill or fry steak until well browned, 4 minutes per side for medium doneness. Let the fillets rest while you prepare the salad.

Cover 2 plates with lettuce leaves. Arrange tomatoes and potatoes over lettuce, dividing evenly. Slice steak thinly and divide among plates. Pour about 2 tablespoons of the creamy blue cheese dressing over the salad and sprinkle with the green onions.

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Serve, passing additional dressing separately.

makes 2 servings

creamy blue cheese dressing

This is the classic: thick and rich with lots of blue cheese. You can also use it as a dip or spoon over iced lettuce wedges.

2 oz (56 g) crumbled blue cheese, such as Roquefort

3 tablespoons (50 ml) finely chopped shallot

¼ cup (50 ml) sour cream

3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon (15 ml) red wine vinegar

¼ teaspoon (1 ml) salt

1 to 3 tablespoons (15 ml to 50 ml) of milk

Whisk together blue cheese, shallot, sour cream, olive oil, vinegar, and salt to mix in small bowl. Add enough milk to thin to a creamy but pourable consistency.

The dressing can be prepared up to four days in advance. Cover and refrigerate.

Makes about ¾ cup.

Grilled flank steak with summer vegetables

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Marinade:

1½ cups (375 ml) dry red wine

½ cup (125 ml) Dijon mustard

¼ cup (50 ml) packed dark brown sugar

8 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled

3 large shallots, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons (25 ml) chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon (15 ml) chopped thyme

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Steak:

One 1½ lb (750 g) flank steak

2 tablespoons (25 ml) cider vinegar

1 tablespoon (15ml) honey

6 oz (175 g) cherry tomatoes, quartered (about 1½ cups)

¼ small sweet onion, such as Walla Walla, thinly sliced

6 oz (175 g) thin asparagus spears, about 6 spears

2 ears of corn, husked

1 tablespoon (15 ml) extra virgin olive oil

6 basil leaves, finely grated

1 tablespoon (15 ml) unsalted butter

6 oz (175 g) fresh mushrooms (about ½ cup), cleaned and halved if large

In a large glass baking dish, combine red wine, mustard, brown sugar, garlic, shallots, parsley, thyme, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Add steak and turn to coat. Let stand at room temperature for two hours or refrigerate up to eight hours.

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Meanwhile, in medium bowl, whisk together cider vinegar and honey.

Add the tomatoes and onion and stir. Let stand for one hour.

Fire up the grill. Coat the asparagus and corn with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill over moderate-high heat, turning occasionally, until tender and browned in places, about 3 minutes for asparagus and 6 minutes for corn. Transfer to a work surface. When the vegetables are cool enough to handle, use a vegetable peeler to slice the asparagus and a sharp knife to slice the corn off the cobs. Add asparagus, corn and basil to tomatoes; shake.

Remove steak from marinade and pat dry with paper towels; season lightly with salt and pepper. Grill steak, turning once, until medium-rare, about 10 minutes total. Transfer the steak to a work surface and let it rest for 10 minutes.

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Meanwhile, in a skillet, melt the butter. Add mushrooms and cook over medium-high heat until browned, about 3 minutes. Spice with salt and pepper.

Thinly slice steak against the grain and transfer to plates.

Season the vegetables with salt and pepper and pour along with the steak. Top steak with mushrooms and serve.

for 4 people

Kitchen tip: keep the vegetables

Farmer’s Greens will keep for about a week. Vegetables picked from the garden will keep a little longer. Supermarket vegetables prepared in bags or boxes have expiration dates, but for best flavor they should be used a few days in advance. Head lettuce from the supermarket will last about four days.