Grilled Steak & Vegetable Salad
Twin Cities food blogger greens & chocolate has cooked up a delicious start to summer: Grilled Steak & Vegetable Salad. Toss it together for backyard gatherings, family barbecues and summer holidays — and enjoy.
I love being in my kitchen, but as soon as the weather turns warmer, you’ll find me at my grill cooking dinner. There’s not much I enjoy more than a warm summer evening with the light pouring through the trees in our backyard while my kids run around — all with a glass of wine in hand and dinner cooking on the grill.
The first thing I’m making this season? Grilled Steak & Vegetable Salad. This salad cooks entirely on the grill, making it the perfect meal for dinner on the patio and enjoying the new season.
It’s hard to tell what component of this salad is the star of the show. The steak is an obvious choice, but what about the veggies, with perfect char marks and smoky flavor? Or the flavorful homemade ranch dressing that will convince you to never buy store-bought again? Like I said, it’s a tough call.
To make this salad an easy weeknight meal, or even an easy meal for when you’re entertaining, the name of the game is prepping ahead. I like to chop up all the vegetables the night before or the morning of and store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container. With vegetables like zucchini, summer squash, peppers and onion, this works really well and you won’t have to worry about them getting soggy. You can make the ranch dressing ahead of time, too.
This salad is a staple in our summer dinner rotation. I hope it will be part of yours, too!
4-6 servings
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
For the steak:
2 pounds sirloin or skirt steak
Salt and pepper, to taste
For the vegetables:
2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise and diced into bite-sized pieces
1 summer squash, cut lengthwise and diced into bite-sized pieces
1 red onion, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 orange or red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, and cut into bite-sized pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 ears of corn
For the homemade ranch dressing:
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
½ cup buttermilk (plus 2 to 3 tablespoons more to reach desired consistency)
2 tablespoons fresh chopped chives
2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the salad:
10 ounces mixed greens
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, sliced
Directions:
- Heat grill to medium-high.
- Pat the steak dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
- In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, summer squash, red onion and bell pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
- Brush corn with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Combine all of the veggies except the corn in a grill pan.
- Place the grill pan, corn and steaks on the grill.
- Cook the vegetables until softened and slightly charred, about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on how large you cut your vegetables, but I find 10 to 15 minutes gets them softened and produces a nice char.
- Cook the corn for a couple of minutes on each side. Cut the corn off the cobs.
- Cook the steaks for 4 minutes without touching and then turn over, cooking an additional 3 to 4 minutes. Let the steak rest for 10 minutes. Once the steaks have rested, slice the steak against the grain.
- To make the ranch dressing: Combine all of the ingredients for the ranch dressing in a bowl and whisk well to combine. Add a couple more tablespoons of buttermilk if you like your ranch dressing on the thinner side. Chill until ready to use.
To assemble: Divide the mixed spring greens among plates. Top with grilled vegetables, corn, tomatoes and sliced avocado, followed by the steak. Drizzle with homemade ranch dressing. Enjoy!
