Imagine my surprise a few months ago, at a cooking class with Phillis Carey, when she looked over at me and said, “this is your salad dressing, Carolyn.” Wow, really? Phillis came up with the salad components, but she used my Creamy Blue Cheese Garlic Dressing. It’s one I’ve been making for years (it’s probably my favorite salad dressing), but just recently put up on my blog, purely an oversight that it hadn’t been “up” on my blog before. It’s one that isn’t overwhelming with the blue cheese. It’s more like a creamy blue cheese vinaigrette, really. You can see from the photo above – it’s not a gloopy sour cream based dressing as there isn’t any sour cream or mayo or anything “creamy” in it except 2 ounces of blue cheese – so all you see is oil and lime juice on the lettuce. It has a bunch of other stuff in it too, but it’s a simple dressing.
Anyway, I was quite thrilled. Thanks, Phillis! Now on to the salad. Phillis has you season a nice, big sirloin steak with a Cajun/Creole seasoning mix. If you don’t have a jar of something on hand, click over to this site for a recipe for a Cajun (spicy hot mixture) to make your own. In my recent reading of Mary’s site, Deep South Dish, she uses a seasoning mix she buys, called Slap Ya Mama. Our local stores here in Southern California usually carry some of Emeril’s jars, but not much else. I may have to order some of this mixture just for fun. As with any kind of spice mixture, you know, don’t you, that once you mix up a variety of spices they tend to become one and they lose their pungency within a few months. Five different spices kept separate will keep fresh for at least a year (oh, I keep mine far longer than that) but once combined give it just a month or two at most. Keep that in mind.
Several years ago I made up a batch of the the spice mix I use for my grilled Corn with 10-Spice Rub. I thought I was so clever – I made a really huge batch just at the beginning of corn season and put it in a small pint sized plastic bag and set it on a shelf in my walk-in pantry. Mistake #1 was putting it in a plastic bag – should have been sealed in a tight lidded jar. Anyway, I used some of it a week or two later. And again. Then it sat on the shelf for about 3-4 weeks. This time I walked 15 feet to my kitchen island and realized a steady stream of the spices were in a trail on my hardwood floor. Oh my. As I held the bag in my hand, it was moving. Eek! Yikes. The bag was just crawling with critters. This was back when I had an infestation of different kinds of critters in my pantry – not only weevils, but another kind of tiny speck of black bugs that ate my chocolate. If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile you read all about it. I had to throw out many, many pounds of food (pasta, flours, grains, spices that weren’t sealed in cans or jars, and about 20 pounds of chocolate). THAT was a painful lesson. Now nearly everything is either jarred, canned or sealed up in big plastic bins in my pantry. The Container Store was my best friend back in those days.
There are differences between Cajun and Creole cuisine – Cajun tends to be more spicy (although it doesn’t have to be), Creole has more subtle flavorings (often tomato-based and with more French or Spanish heritage). Spice Hunter does make a single combo mixture of both seasonings, if you can find it. If you’re interested in learning more about the differences, I found a website called ochef, which explains a bit more. According to his information, as years have gone by – and a century or two of cooking, the two styles have married and intertwined a lot and there’s less and less distinction between them.
This salad is just perfect for a late summer harvest of vegetables – the corn, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, etc. If you prefer a really tender steak you can use a ribeye or a New York. If you stick with the sirloin, you might want to tenderize it a bit – marinate it in some kind of acid (like a vinaigrette) for an hour before grilling, then add the Cajun seasoning. Sometimes sirloin steak can be a bit chewy – it may depend on what part of the steak you get on your plate!
What I liked: all the flavors in this salad – and topped off with the blue cheese dressing. If you’re a lover of blue, you could also add a few small chunks of it to the salad. You will hardly know there is any blue in the vinaigrette.
What I didn’t like: not enough onion! I just adore roasted or grilled red onion, so I’d add more to the salad. That’s it!
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Grilled Sirloin Steak Salad with Grilled Onions and Corn
Recipe By: Phlllis Carey cooking class, 7/2011
Serving Size: 6
DRESSING:
2 cloves garlic — peeled
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons dry mustard
2 ounces blue cheese — Danish type (milder), crumbled
1/2 cup vegetable oil — grapeseed or canola
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese — freshly grated
SALAD:
1 1/2 pounds top sirloin steak — 1 1/4 inches thick
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning — or Cajun/Creole type Salt to taste
1/4 cup vegetable oil — grapeseed or canola
1 large red onion — sliced crosswise in 3 thick slices
2 whole corn on the cob — husked
1 large head of romaine lettuce — cut across in wide strips
2 cups cherry tomatoes — halved
2 cups cucumber — hot house type, cubed
1/2 cup green onions — chopped
1. DRESSING: Drop garlic in running food processor to mince. Stop machine and add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. This makes about 1 1/2 cups (more than you’ll need for this salad).
2. STEAK: Preheat grill to medium high. Season steak with Cajun/Creole seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. Brush or pat steak with vegetable oil and grill for 5-7 minutes per side (rare). Remove steak and tent it lightly with a piece of aluminum foil for about 10 minutes.
3. VEGETABLES: Brush onion slices and corn with oil and grill alongside the steak until onion is tender and corn is blackened. Cool slightly (enough to handle) and coarsely chop onion and cut corn kernels from the cob. Cool completely.
4. ASSEMBLY: Slice steak across the grain into thin slices. Toss the lettuce with tomatoes, cucumber, grilled onions and corn. Toss in only enough dressing to coat the salad well. It may need more, so taste it to determine. Divide salad amongst 6 plates and top with steak strips, sprinkle with green onions and serve immediately, passing extra dressing, if desired.
Per Serving (you may not use all the salad dressing): 674 Calories; 55g Fat (71.5% calories from fat); 31g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 75mg Cholesterol; 387mg Sodium.
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