Southwest Steak Salad
Ingredients
For the Steak Marinade
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- 2 limes zested and juiced
- 3 tablespoons chopped onion
- 1 ½ tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper or more to taste
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 pounds beef flank steak
For the Dressing
- 2 cups Prepared Ranch Dressing can be store-bought. But making your own from the Hidden Valley Ranch mix tastes best!
- 1 pkg Taco Seasoning
For the Salad
- 4 cups Your favorite salad lettuce chopped
- 12 Cherry or Grape Tomatoes halved
- 1/2 - 3/4 cups Cotija Cheese or Queso Fresco crumbled, or your favorite shredded cheese
- 1 can Black Beans drained & rinsed
- 1-2 ears Fresh Corn roasted and cut from the cob
- handful Fresh Cilantro chopped
- Tortilla Chips or Tortilla Strips for topping the salad
Instructions
For the Steak
- Place oil, cilantro, lime zest, lime juice, onion, honey, cumin, garlic, salt, black pepper, chipotle, and coriander in a gallon-sized zip-top bag. Mix thoroughly.
- Place steak into the bag and marinate in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
- When ready to eat, cook the steak on a heated grill to your preferred done-ness. 130 degrees for Medium Rare, 140 degrees for Medium, & 150 degrees for Medium Well
- Remove from grill to a plate and tent with foil to rest while you prepare the salad. Note - the temp of the steak will increase 5 to 10 degrees while resting!
Make the Dressing
- Mix together the Ranch Dressing and taco seasoning in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. This is best made the day before to give the flavors time to marry.
Assemble the Salad
- Slice the steak against the grain.
- Divide the salad ingredients among 2 large plates.
- Place several pieces of steak on top and serve with tortilla strips and dressing on the side.
Notes
There's so much room for variation with this salad - explore different toppings!
For the dressing, you can make it as written above OR instead of taco seasoning, stir in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa. OR if you want to make a Cilantro Ranch, just stir in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of finely chopped cilantro. See? That was easy, wasn't it?!
Also, feel free to try out other types of meat with this salad - a different cut of beef, or you could even make it with chicken using the same marinade. You could use prepared taco meat too. Have fun with it!