Yum!

Flank steak is big in our house. Hubby's family grew up with the stuff. So when I married into their brood, I learned to cook this flat but flavorful meat. Two of our boys love steak so it is a semi-regular in our home. I like to grill the steak with just some kosher salt and pepper or sometimes I will use some Santa Maria seasoning on the steak. What I love about the flank steak besides the taste, is I can usually get 2 to 3 meals off one steak. As our sons grow I know that will not happen, but for right now I can really make it stretch. Our second meal from the flank steak is always steak tacos. This is hubby's favorite! I slice the steak against the grain and add a little of canola oil to a pan. I pan fry the meat until it is heated through and then I rough chop the steak up. We serve it Guadalajara style, which is with corn tortillas, chopped cilantro, chopped onion, crumbled queso or shredded cheddar/jack cheese mix and lime wedges. I will serve this with homemade Mexican rice. Delicious! If I am able to get another meal from the steak, I usually make french dip sandwiches. I got the Au jus recipe here. I warmed up the meat in a pan and then assembled the sandwich. It's a really good, rib sticking, man/woman loving sandwich!

The beautiful salad with the steak was extra yummy! Notice the green dressing. It's a great dressing from Mariel Hemingway. What I like about it is it is made from spinach and basil. So not only are you eating your veggies in your salad but your dressing is also veggies. In my book its win win! The salad was filled with romaine lettuce, radicchio, prosciutto that I baked in the oven until crisp, a crumbled Spanish blue cheese and roasted baby beets. Whats not to love!

Amazing Dressing (adapted from Mariel Hemingway)

4 cups fresh organic spinach, washed and dried

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon of sun dried tomato bruschetta ( I found mine at Trader Joe's. The original recipe uses 10 kalamata olives and some juice from the olives. I liked the taste of the dressing with the sun dried tomato better)

Combine all ingredients into food processor or blender and mix until smooth.