Salad

My husband, Jared, was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania. I am a Texas girl. To say that our culinary experiences growing up were different would be an understatement. I grew up with King Ranch Chicken Casseroles, tacos, and a bowl of jalapeños on the table at every meal. Jared grew up with pirogies, a meat and potatoes on the dinner table, and homemade strawberry jelly.

The first time I went home with Jared to visit his family, he was thrilled. His mom was making his favorite meal, Steak and Fry Salad.

“I’m sorry, a what salad???” I remember saying. I had never heard of such a salad and here I was dating a dude that claimed it as his favorite meal.

As Pennsylvania grew into a big piece of my life and trips to Pittsburg, Erie, and Edinboro became normal, so did the fact that Steak and Fry Salads and Chicken and Fry Salads really are a thing. Like they exist on menus all over the Western half of the state kind of a thing.

Tonight, I decided to take that Pennsylvania classic but with a clean twist. I replaced the normal french fries with oven baked sweet potato fries. I slapped down a pretty dreamy flank steak marinade. And I ditched the sprinkle cheese and ranch dressing and opted to heft up on the veggies with a balsamic vinaigrette homemade dressing. I’ve gotta say I dug it. And good news! So did the rest of the fam! The six year old, who I often have to beg to eat, kept saying, “More juicy please!” which clearly meant more steak.

You ready? Let’s do this.

I started with a flank steak. It was around 2 pounds and I marinated it in a little sauce that I whipped up in a bowl before pouring it over the steak and marinating. The sauce was three tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of two lemons, three garlic cloves pressed, and seasoning. I used Bolner’s Fiesta Uncle Chris’ Gourmet Steak Seasoning to give it a little added zing but you can use just straight salt and pepper. I marinated the steak for a few hours (you can marinate for up to twenty-four hours) and then broiled it in the oven for 6 minutes on high, and then flipped it and broiled the other side for 6 minutes. Once it came out of the over, I let it sit on the cutting board for about 10 minutes before thinly slicing it. Y’all, that meat turned out beautifully!

For the base layer of the salad, the fries, I took two sweet potatoes that I sliced into about 1/4-1/2 inch sticks. I tossed those in olive oil, doused them in a hefty amount of M Salt, and roasted them for 20 minutes at 450 degrees. If you don’t have M Salt, it’s just a really good salt, pepper, garlic powder blend so feel free to use an alternative seasoning or make your own with those three simple ingredients. 

As for the salad, you really can put in whatever good veggies you have on hand. Personally, I used spring mix lettuce, threw in a yellow bell pepper, some chopped up zucchini and summer squash, grated a carrot, and then added sautéed green onions and tomatoes. For the dressing, I mixed olive oil, a good balsamic vinegar, a pour of honey, and a pour of dijon mustard. I dressed the veggies before I layered up the salad.

From there, you just start with a layer of fries, top it with the dressed salad, and then place your protein on top. Wha-la! Steak and Sweet Potato Fry Salad. Enjoy!

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Steak and Sweet Potato Fry Salad

A clean twist on a Western Pennsylvania classic

Course Main Course

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Resting Time 10 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

Flank Steak Marinade

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• juice of two lemons
• 3 garlic cloves pressed
• salt
• pepper
• 2 lb flank steak

Sweet Potato Fries

• 2 sweet potatoes sliced into 1/4-1/2 inch sticks
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder

Salad

• spring mix lettuce
• 1 yellow bell pepper chopped
• 1/2 zucchini sliced
• 1/2 summer squash sliced
• 10 grape tomatoes
• 2 green onions chopped
• 1 avocado

Salad Dressing

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 tbsp good balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

Accoutrements

• goat cheese
• toasted almonds

Instructions

Flank Steak Marinade

1. Mix the first five ingredients of the flank steak marinade in a small bowl. 

2. Place flank steak in a shallow pan like a pyrex dish. Pour marinade over the steak, turning the steak a few times to get it flavored. 

3. Sprinkle your favorite steak seasoning lightly over the marinating steak. (I used Uncle Chris' Gourmet Steak Seasoning from Bolner's Fiesta) 

4. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. 

Sweet Potato Fries

1. Preheat oven to 450.

2. Toss the sweet potatoes in the olive oil.

3. Generously season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. 

4. Place the sweet potato sticks on a baking pan covered in parchment paper. Be sure sweet potatoes are not stacked. They should lay flat in a single row. 

5. Roast in the oven for 20 minutes.

6. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes

Cook Flank Steak

1. Set your oven to broil on the highest level of heat.

2. Pull the flank steak out of the marinade, letting any excess drip off. Place the flank steak on a roasting pan, bottom lined with aluminum foil.

3. Place in the oven on the top rack, about 2-3 inches from the broiler. Broil one side for six minutes. Flip and broil the other side for six minutes.

4. Pull out of the oven and place the steak on a cutting board for 10 minutes before slicing thinly, against the grain.

Mix the Salad

1. Mix all salad veggies together.

2. Mix dressing ingredients together in a small bowl.

3. Pour the salad dressing in the salad, a little dressing at a time, until all pieces are lightly dressed. Don't soak the veggies in the dressing.

Create the Steak and Fry Salad

1. Start with a layer of sweet potato fries.

2. Top with a mound of salad.

3. Place meat across the top of the salad.

4. Top with goat cheese and toasted almonds.