STEAK FAJITA SALAD
And the perfect Summer Spritz to sip with it...
Hola W4D Friends! Hope y’all had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend, and that your holiday hangover is gone—we’ve made it to Thursday! (Why do the short weeks that follow long weekends actually seem longer?!?) We are in FULL EASY SUMMER ENTERTAINING MODE, and that’s why this week’s W4D focuses on a simple set-out-one-giant-platter dish that feels special enough to serve to guests (or your own hungry home), and a deeeeelish spin on the spritz that you will be drinking all Summer long…
A DREAMY STEAK FAJITA SALAD
AU: Y’all, it’s HOT out there! It’s time to do some QUICK GRILLING and get back into the AC or the pool/lake/body of water as soon as you possibly can. And that’s when I love to serve an entree salad… It’s everything I want in a meal: protein, veggies, an addictive sauce (aka “dressing”), a contrast of textures and temperatures (the cool salad ingredients with the warm steak make me go back for another bite), it’s creamy, it’s salty, it’s refreshing, it’s perfection.
EK: Ooohh, forget the water—I want to dive into your dish! That looks so delicious and refreshing! I am booking a trip to LA just so you can make that for me!
AU: Come on over! This is a great entertaining meal for several reasons:
You can marinate the steak and make the dressing the day before (dressing can be made 3 days ahead).
You can grill both the steak and the veggies well before guests arrive, and serve everything at room temp, if needed.
The leftovers (if you have any) are amazing to eat all week long.
It’s healthy and satisfying, so you can feel like the virtuous model human that you are deep in your core (I’m actually a full-on garbage person in my core, but no one needs to know that).
It’s steak fajitas. In a salad.
AU: First, you’re going to want to marinate a flank steak. You could also do this with skirt, flat-iron, hanger, or even tri-tip (adjust grilling times accordingly). The marinade is Kenji Lopez-Alt’s from Serious Eats. It’s one of my favorite marinades for thin-cut steaks that are cooked over direct heat (aka HOT-N-FAST).
But if you don’t have the time or foresight to marinate 1-to-12 hours, I CANNOT RECOMMEND EK’S CHILE-LIME RUB ENOUGH for all of your fajita/taco grilling needs this Summer. It’s so simple and so flavorful for very little work. It’s now one of my very favorite rubs to keep in my spice cabinet all year ‘round.
EK: Thanks Anthony! I have another fun use for that rub that I’ll put in a future newsletter…Stay Tuned:)
AU: The other piece of the dish you can make ahead is the Cilantro-Lime Dressing. I don’t want to toot my own horn (says the guy who’s about to toot away), but it tastes almost exactly like a certain fast-casual salad chain’s dressing. But you can make as much as you want, and not be confined to the tiny plastic container that never seems to coat your leafy greens enough AND WHY IS THE BOWL ALWAYS TOO SMALL TO TOSS THE SALAD IN?!?
AU: The cilantro-lime dressing requires very little knife work, and you can whir it all up in a blender or a mini-chop-style food processor. The attached recipe makes about 2/3 cup, which is enough for one gigantic salad. Double the recipe if you want more for later—It will last about a week in the fridge.
When you’re ready to grill, simply cut the bell peppers into “cheeks.” That means cutting off an entire side from the stem end to the bottom end—you should have 3 or 4 plank-like pieces of pepper.
For the onion, cut it in half lengthwise (from pole-to-pole), and then into 1/2-inch thick pieces KEEPING THE ROOT INTACT. This is important, so they don’t fall apart on the grill. Alternatively, you could cut the onions into rings (crosswise/NOT from pole-to-pole) and skewer those rings to keep them intact on the grill. This seemed like extra work to me, and you should know me well enough by now that that’s not my jam. Ears of corn should be shucked and removed of as much silk as possible. Coat all the veg with a thin layer of oil and season lightly with S&P.
AU: Grill the vegetables (I grilled extra corn—you only need 4 ears for the recipe) over medium direct heat until they are charred in places. The corn took about 10 minutes, turning every 2 mins, so all sides get a lil kiss from the grill. The onions and bell peppers only took about 6 minutes, and I only flipped them once.
I grilled up two flank steaks (bc leftovers = cook once, eat forever) over direct medium-high heat on the grill, about 5 minutes on the first side and 3 on the second. I removed the steaks when the internal temp read 130ºF on an instant read thermometer.
Once the steak has rested, slice it thinly against the grain. Slice the peppers into strips, and cut the corn from the cob (I do this inside the bowl where I’ll toss the salad, as to mitigate corn kernel “confetti” littering my kitchen). Then I slice an avocado, some radishes, and crumble some cotija cheese (you could also use queso fresco (or even shredded colby jack if you want that old-school taco salad vibe).
AU: Toss it all together with the cilantro-lime dressing, and you’ll have a fresh fajita FEAST on your hands!! And when I tell you that FOUR GROWN-ASS MEN ate this and were FULL afterwards, you better believe a salad can be a hearty meal.
THE SUMMER SUNRISE SPRITZ
EK: It’s easy. It’s refreshing. Forget any RTD (Ready-To-Drink) canned options and make this instead! You can even pour it into a Yeti and it will keep you cool in the blistering sun.
When it is this hot, it’s a good idea to drink low-alcohol cocktails, and this fits the bill as it is topped off with a juicy soda water, like Spindrift. If you haven’t started to use Spindrift for your Cocktails, now is the time.
AU: I love a grapefruit Spindrift Paloma/Ranch Water vibe when I’m in the pool, so this is elevating that and giving it a little more oomph! BTW, we are getting exactly zero $$$ from Spindrift, but if anyone has a connection, we’re happy to get paid for this! :)
EK: Anthony and I started talking about Summer cocktails, and it didn’t take long to settle on a Spritz. It’s a little more festive than Ranch Water (don’t throw the RW out—we both LOVE Ranch Water), but sometimes you want something a little *extra*! This Spritz is as easy to make as Ranch Water, but it is more flavorful and has a nice balance of bitter, fruity and spirits.
EK: The bitter comes from the Campari and the fruity comes from the fruit-infused sparkling water that is Spindrift, and the spirit that I chose is a very easy on the smoke Mezcal that I discovered in Mexico City.
One of my favorite restaurants, El Capital had a Mezcal cocktail that was so good, I asked the waiter to bring us the bottle. I wanted to see what Mezcal they were using, because some Mezcal overpowers the other components of the drink, and this one was so smooth and seamless that I had to know what it was!
Much to my happy surprise, it was Union, which is readily available in the USA. It’s perfect for people who love Tequila (but think that they don’t like Mezcal), since it is lightly smoky with a nice balance of agave. It is now my house pour for light Summer Mezcal drinks.
AU: YES! This is my problem… I don’t tend to like smokey spirits, and Mezcal is so trendy (especially here in LA), I need to get onboard or get out! I need a good “starter mezcal” that’s easy on the smoke.
EK: Speaking of smoke, the interesting thing about this drink is that the Campari brings out the smoky flavor even in this low-smoke Mezcal. If you are smoke adverse, just substitute your favorite Tequila for the Mezcal.
IMO, the real fruit juice in the Spindrift makes a superior spritz. You could use a flavored soda water (like La Croix) if you want, but you’ll miss the addition of the real fruit juice. And Spindrift doesn’t have any additional sugar or sweeteners, so it is still “skinny.”
EK: I tried the spritz with the Blood Orange, Tangerine, and Mango/Orange Spindrift flavors. Ultimately, I thought the Mango/Orange paired better with the Mezcal, but you could use any of your favorite citrus-y sodas.
The Spritz is easy to make: mix 1 part Campari to 2 parts Mezcal and pour over a full glass of ice. My recipe below makes two drinks, but if you were going to make one, use 1/2 ounce of Campari and 1 ounce of Mezcal and 3-4 ounces of fruity soda. Remember, this is a low alcohol refresher tailor-made for drinking in the hot sun!
