Meat and Potatoes Salad

Copyright 2008 by Cooking With The Single Guy

Ingredients:
8 oz. Flank steak
1 lb. (16 oz.) fingerling potatoes
3 to 4 cups baby arugula
half a yellow bell pepper, finely diced
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced with a mandolin
olive oil
salt and pepper

For dressing:
1.5 T honey
2 T ketchup
1.5 T Champagne vinegar
3 T extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Cut your fingerling potatoes lengthwise into halves or quarters and spread out on a cookie tray. Drizzle olive oil all over and season with salt and pepper. (Toss the potatoes to make sure they’re all evenly coated.) Bake in oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and cooked.

In a bowl, whisk all the ingredients for the dressing together until creamy. Set aside.

Drizzle your flank steak with olive oil and then season with salt and pepper (on both sides). Warm a non-stick skillet over high heat and sear your steak, about 1 to 2 minutes on each side (depending on the thickness). Remove from pan and allow your meat to rest for at least 5 minutes. You’ll slice the meat right before you serve the salad.

Remove the potatoes from the oven when done and allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Split the dressing into two bowls. In one bowl, add the slightly warm potatoes and toss to coat with dressing.

In a salad bowl, add arugula, fennel and bell pepper. Add some dressing and toss with potatoes. Then slice your steak and add to your salad. Serve immediately with toasted rosemary bread (I recommend the rosemary loaf from La Brea Bakery).

Makes two servings. Pair with a glass of rose wine.

TIP: Instead of drizzling your potatoes in olive oil, buy the spray can with extra virgin olive oil and just spray your potato slices. The spray allows you to have a more even coating.

OVERNIGHT: If you’re like me and make this salad just for yourself, you can split it over two nights for dinner. But you want to make sure to cook the flank steak fresh each time. So cut your flank steak into two pieces, and cook each one right before you’re about to eat it.