Grilled Steak and Kale Salad with Chimichurri Dressing
Apologies for the radio silence around here. We’ve been working hard on more house renovations the past week, finally finishing up the staircase renovation that we’ve been working on. It’s a strange feeling to be nearly done renovating our entire downstairs, in less than two years, especially when we never intended to do so much to the house when we bought it. Can’t stop, won’t stop.
I sometimes get asked questions like “You guys are still working on (insert project here)?” It takes a lot of willpower for me to hold in my smart-ass responses like “If you want to come watch Clara for a few days so that we can dedicate all of our weekend to renovations, come on over.” I’m pretty impressed we’ve done as much as we have, considering we mostly work at night and on weekends. We aren’t professionals, and we have lives that don’t revolve entirely around renovating our house. We love doing projects together, but we also love going to the farmers market or out to breakfast or to the playground on weekends. We also, as you all know, love cooking together, and renovations frequently get in the way of that.
Thankfully, since it’s grilling season, we can count on cooking outside to get us a quick dinner after a long weekend of house projects. This salad is one of my favorite grilled dinners, and it’s been a hit every time we’ve made it. Grilling is the method that first made me like kale, and I love how it gets sort of blackened and crispy when it’s grilled. This salad is simultaneously light and hearty. Even though it’s got steak and potatoes, it doesn’t feel heavy. The chimichurri dressing is bright and flavorful. The leftovers make for an excellent lunch the next day, too. This is a fantastic summer meal, lengthy renovations not required.
- YIELD: 4-6 main dish servings
For the salad:
1½ pounds of steak (like sirloin, flank, etc.)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
1 bunch kale
1 pound red or gold potatoes, quartered
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
For the dressing:
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 bunch of cilantro, rinsed well and patted dry
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons mayonnaise or Greek yogurt
2-3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1
Heat a gas grill to medium-high heat or prepare a charcoal grill. Pat the steak dry and let rest for at least 15 minutes at room temperature. Once at room temp, season generously with salt and pepper on both sides.
Meanwhile, drizzle oil over the kale leaves and rub all over. Season with salt and pepper. Add the potatoes in a bowl with about 1 tablespoon of oil and season with salt. Toss to coat. Set the kale and potatoes aside.
- 2
Brush the grill grates with oil, and cook the steak for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through. The length it takes will depend on the thickness of your steak and how done you want it cooked, so adjust this time accordingly. Once the steak is cooked, transfer to a plate and tent with foil. Allow to rest while you cook the potatoes and kale.
- 3
Place the potatoes in a grill pan and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Grill the kale for 1-2 minutes per side, until it’s lightly charred.
- 4
Prepare the dressing while the potatoes are cooking. Combine all the ingredients except for the olive oil in a food processor or blender. Pulse to combine, then slowly stream in the olive oil, adding the third tablespoon if needed to thin it out.
- 5
Slice the steak into bite-size pieces. Remove the tough skins from the kale, then coarsely chop the leaves. Combine the steak, kale, potatoes, red pepper and avocado in a large bowl. Drizzle the dressing over, then toss to coat. Serve warm.
I hate to be that person to ask about substitutions, but I’m going to… Do you think I could use parsley instead of cilantro? I have a bunch of parsley left over from another recipe that needs to be used. Thank you!
That is totally fine! You can definitely use it. I love the bright, fresh flavor of parsley, and I think it would work fine in this recipe.
Glad you asked! Matt came home from the store with parsley on accident 🙂
How was it with the parsley? Also, that mistake has been made in our house plenty of times. 🙂
It was delicious! Cooper even enjoyed his first encounter with kale 🙂
This looks so good! I love steak in salads, but just don’t use it often enough. Also, you guys are my reno models. I mean, you have renovated your entire downstairs in the time it will take us to barely do anything to our laundry room, lol.
This looks awesome!
I am SO impressed by how dedicated you guys are to renovating your house! All of your projects look so cool and turn out so well! It’s inspiring. I can definitely see wanting an easy meal after a day full of hard work…this salad sounds awesome!