Meal salads are great for summer dinners and are easy to make. They can be made for one person or for a crowd. This is one of my many versions of meal salads. Ingredient amounts will serve two. Adjust ingredient amounts to accommodate the number of people serving. See Chatty Advice on how to make a great salad at home.
Ingredients
Filet Mignon
2 – 4 oz. filets
2 teaspoons of olive oil
2 teaspoons of McCormick brand Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning
Salad
4 cups of Romaine lettuce chopped – see chiffonade
2 cups iceberg lettuce chopped – see chiffonade
1 cup of tomatoes chopped (beefsteak, Roma, cherry or preferably any tomato from your garden)
1/2 cup of red onion diced
1/2 cup of blue cheese crumbled
Dressing
1 tablespoon of honey
1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup of extra virgin olive oil
Croistini
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 garlic clove pressed through a garlic press or 1 cube of Dorot brand garlic
A quarter of a baguette sliced
Technique
Make dressing by whisking honey and balsamic vinegar and slowly add extra virgin olive oil. Add a pinch of sugar if dressing tastes too bitter. Try a touch of the vinaigrette on a piece of lettuce as opposed to your hand. This will give you a better idea of how it will taste. Set aside until ready to use. You will only be using about a half of a cup of the dressing, refrigerate the rest for up to three days or discard.
For croistini, mix oil and garlic together. Brush both sides of each sliced baguette with mixture and bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes or until crisp.
On a plate add olive oil and coat the filets with olive oil on all sides. Add a teaspoon of the seasoning to the top of the filet. Preheat a grill and place filets seasoned side down and grill filets until done. Cooking times will vary depending on the thickness of the filets, the type of grill you are using and how well you like your meat done. Set aside to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing.
Rinse and drain salad greens and pat dry. Prepare the rest of the salad ingredients. In a large bowl add all the salad ingredients, except for blue cheese and pour about a half of a cup of the dressing over salad and toss until evenly coated. Plate and top with the sliced filet, crumble blue cheese over salad and serve with croistini.
Suggested Beverage
For lunch, try an ice tea or lemonade or for dinner, try Bogle Vineyards Merlot (California), J. Lohr Paso Robles Merlot (California), Summation Red Wine Bland by Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve (California), Saint Arnold Fancy Lawnmower (Houston, TX) or Flensburger Brauerei Gold Premium Lager (Germany).
Chatty Advice
Quite a few people have asked “Why do salads always taste better in a restaurant vs. making them at home?†There are a couple of things to making a great salad at home. First off, chill the bowl or plate you will be using to plate the salad. Second, take the time to chop or dice the ingredients and use the chiffonade technique for cutting the salad greens when appropriate. Third, toss the salad with the dressing so the salad is evenly coated. Finally enjoy your restaurant style salad you created!
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