Farm Fresh Greek Steak Salad

Warm weather is here and that means lighter meals for most.  Who doesn’t love a great salad?  For every family that loves salad for dinner, you’re going to adore this delicious farm fresh Greek steak salad recipe. You’ll get a little bit of everything when you opt to serve this meal during the hot summer days.  Maybe a loaf of your favorite crusty bread, a glass of iced tea, and you are set for a refreshing meal.

With just a handful of ingredients, you’ll be able to make a homemade salad dressing to drizzle on top of your freshly made steak salad. The flavorful and moist strip steak cooked to perfection and added into a salad bowl with salad greens, avocado, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and crumbled feta cheese offers your family a one-dish full course meal.

Is a strip steak a good steak?

Strip steak may not be comparable to sirloin, but it’s one of the best steak cuts for boneless tender meat to serve atop your favorite salad bowl. This farm fresh Greek steak salad uses strip steak for its ability to be easily sliced in strips to complete this delicious salad recipe.

You’ll find that most people recommend having a strip steak with a nice marble of white fat that weaves evenly through the muscle of your strip steak. You can select your preferred strip steak cut while shopping at the grocery store for your ingredients to make this Greek steak salad.

My favorite steak to grill is a boneless ribeye, so often I do have a little leftover and it makes a great salad topping as well. 

How can I make my steak juicy and tender?

It’s important to make sure your strip steak is juicy and tender. You’ll notice that I include a marinade option for this strip steak. You’ll mix the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, and Italian seasoning to create a marinade.

The best way to make certain that your strip steak for this Greek steak salad comes out tender is to use my homemade marinade to allow the steak to marinate for 30 minutes or more at room temperature. Do not allow your strip steak to marinate longer than two hours as that will have the opposite effect by increasing the chance of your meat going bad or being too tough to chew.

The key to ensuring that this farm fresh Greek steak salad is delicious with every bite is the marinade step and cooking the strip steak to perfection. You’ll want to have a tender and easy to chew bite with each fork load of salad at mealtime.

This is an excellent salad recipe to serve during a hot summer day or to guests when you’re celebrating together over a flavorful meal.

Farm Fresh Greek Steak Salad

Gather up the ingredients and enjoy a light but filling salad for dinner tonight.

Dressing Ingredients:

• ¼ c. balsamic vinegar
• ½ c. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T. fresh lemon juice
• 1 t. Dijon mustard
• 2 t. Italian seasoning
• Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 lb. Strip steak, approximately 1½” thick
• 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large avocado, chopped
• 1 T. fresh lemon juice
• 4 c. mixed salad greens (or other lettuce, of choice)
• 1 English cucumber, chopped
• 1 c. grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• ½ medium red onion, thinly sliced
• ½ c. Kalamata olives, sliced
• ½ c. Feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, and Italian seasoning. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste, and whisk to combine. Set aside.
2. Add the steak to a large, sealable freezer bag. Pour half of the balsamic dressing on top and seal tightly. Gently turn bag to make sure the steak is thoroughly coated in the marinade.
3. Marinate the steak for at least 30 minutes at room temperature (but not more than 2 hours) or place in the refrigerator overnight. Transfer the remaining half of the dressing to an airtight container and set aside until ready to use.
4. When ready to prepare the salad, place the top oven rack in the center position and pre-heat the oven to 400°F.
5. Turn exhaust fan to the highest setting and heat olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over high heat. Remove steak from marinade and discard the bag. Add the steak to the hot skillet and sear on all sides, approximately 2 minutes per side.
6. Transfer skillet to the pre-heated oven and roast the steak to the desired level of doneness, approximately 8 minutes for medium-rare.**
7. Remove steak from oven and transfer to plate. Cover loosely and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, toss the freshly chopped avocado with the lemon juice to prevent browning. Set aside.
9. Layer the mixed salad greens, cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, olives, and avocado on a large serving platter and season with salt and black pepper, to taste.
10. Once the steak is rested, slice into thin strips and place on top of the salad. Top with crumbled Feta cheese and serve immediately with the remaining balsamic dressing on the side. Enjoy!

This salad is like most, use what you have.  Add more of your favorites, or leave out what you or your family isn’t crazy about.  My guys aren’t so big on Feta cheese, so I will add Mozzarella for them.

 

A few more salad  ideas for your pleasure.

Roasted Golden Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Broccoli and Bacon Salad With The Works

Hot Chicken Salad With a Potato Chip Topping