Steak Tips with Chimichurri, Radish Greens, and Salad

The good thing about this dinner was it used up a lot of our share for the week. The bad thing is that using up the CSA vegetables early in the week means we have to work down our winter stock of frozen (non-CSA and comparatively bland) vegetables. I'll be glad when they are gone!

This menu consists of steak tips, seasoned with salt and pepper, left to rest at room temperature for about an hour, and then grilled, topped with my Cilantro, Lime, and Cherry Pepper Chimichurri. It also included a "salad bar" so that everyone in the family could build their own from the radishes, toasted nuts, carrots, cucumbers, cranberries, lettuce and goat cheese that I laid out. I made a Citrus-Balsamic dressing based on this, but I also added the juice of about 1/2 of a Meyer Lemon. I didn't think I would like it once I tasted it, and the acidity was definitely off, probably the fault of the orange, which is why I had to add lemon juice. Actually, once it was on the salad with the cranberries and the goat cheese it was quite good. The other item on the plate was sauteed radish greens. Finally. I know I've been talking about doing this for weeks! Everyone but me liked them, I found the flavor fine, but they were slightly tough for my tastes. I think kale is tough too, just to be fair.

Sauteed Radish Greens:
greens and stalks of two bunches of young radishes (I'd cut closer to the leaves for older bunches)
1 clove garlic, sliced thin
2 green onions, sliced
salt
pepper
olive oil
1 tbsp water

Heat olive oil in skillet, add garlic and sautee for 2-3 minutes over medium heat. Add greens, salt, and pepper. If the greens seem tough, add a small amount of water to lightly steam. When the leaves are wilted, removed from heat and serve.

Chicken and Bacon Caesar Salad

Another big dinner salad today, the greens are from my CSA share. I hosted a party once and this salad was gone before any of the other main dishes. Since chicken and bacon can be thawed quickly it can be made on short notice.

Essentially this salad is about: 6 cups of lettuce; 4 chicken breasts, seasoned with salt and pepper, grilled and sliced; two pounds of applewood bacon, cooked and chopped; a few handfuls of grape tomatoes, halved; tossed in Caesar dressing and about 1/4 cup grated Parmesan.

This probably isn't something that a determined person would not be able to figure out on their own, but I figured I'd post it anyways for those loaded with Spring greens (and hopefully bacon) who are in need of inspiration.

Bruschetta Salad

I mentioned before that we aren't eating a lot of bread these days, so with a whole bunch of grape tomatoes in the kitchen, I decided to make my favorite bruschetta recipe into a salad. It's really simple, just be sure to use good feta, it really makes a difference. I like to grind pepper over this salad, it's a nice contrast to the acidic tomatoes and the salty feta.

Bruschetta Salad:
Lettuce, your choice
Grape tomatoes, halved
4 oz feta, crumbled
3 green onions sliced
freshly ground pepper
dressing of your choice, I like balsamic

If I explain further it will probably insult your intelligence.

Baby Arugula Salad with Spiced Walnuts and Strawberry Poppy Vinaigrette

This is a great winter salad

Strawberry Poppy Vinaigrette

All together

This dinner salad is a great way to use things readily available in winter. The baby arugula was so tender and mild, it was hardly like a salad. The salad dressing was simple but good, it complemented the salad well. Measurements below aren't exact, it's salad, you get to make up your own rules.


Ingredients:

baby arugula (amount depends on how many people you are serving)

2 apples, cut into quarters and sliced thin

1/2 c. dried cranberries

shaved Parmesan

Spiced Walnuts (the ones I made the other day)

Strawberry Poppy Vinaigrette   (6 tbsp is 1 one good-sized lemon, I used a tsp of poppy seeds)