Steak Salad

There is hardly anything better than a well put together salad. At least in my book anyways! Especially one that is packed with protein and all the things I like best. So when I put together this steak salad I fell in love and so did everyone else in my house. Needless to say, it's become a sensation and a regular meal in our rotation. Salads are always very universal and can be changed to the consumers specific tastes.

Protein Filled Steak Salad

(Recipe based off three servings)

What you will need:

• A leafy, green base of your choosing. I always use romaine hearts.
• Steak meat. I use store bought stew meat as it's already cut up and is very convenient for quick cooking.
• Reduced sodium bacon. 
• A large green bell pepper. I add one because I prefer my salads to have some crunch.
• Boiled egg. I use one egg per bowl of salad.
• Olives (optional). We love olives in this house and add them to anything we can. They provide a tangy flavor to accommodate your greens and protein.
• Salad dressing of your choosing. **Note that most store bought salad dressings can be high in fat and calories. We use homemade salsa as a dressing for ours to eliminate traditional dressings. 

1. Begin by placing the steak meat into a pan on medium to high heat and cook until they are a nice brown color. I tend to cook mine more rare, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Be sure to drain well to get rid of any excess grease. I also lay it all out on a plate with paper towels to soak up even more unwanted grease.

    2.Follow up the steak by cooking the pack of low sodium bacon on a medium to high heat as well. You will be breaking these up into small pieces, so I tend to cook mine crispier than usual. Once it's all cooked, do as you did with the steak meat and lay them out on a paper towel to cool an drain the grease. Once cooled you can either chop them into small pieces with a knife, or you can be lazy like me and toss them all into a food processor. Once chopped, set aside. 

    3. Now for the boiled eggs. Luckily mine were already boiled and all I needed to do was peel and chop them up. But in any case, boil your eggs and allow them to cool in an ice bath before peeling. Like I mentioned earlier I made three bowls of salad and used an egg per bowl. Once you've peeled the eggs, just like the bacon, you can either chop them with a knife or be lazy and put them in the food processor.  Set aside once done.

    4.Chop up your bell pepper into small pieces. Easy as that!

    5.Now time to chop up your greens and assemble your salad. It took me 1 1/2 romaine hearts to make three bowls of salad. If you're making just one, 1/2 a romaine heart should suffice. Add your lettuce to the bowls, divvy up the bacon and eggs and layer all the goods in any way that you see fit! Then to give it some tangy flavor we add some olives. Our favorites are pimento stuffed and Greek kalamata olives. Add some dressing of your choice, be it homemade or a substitution, or even none at all and you're all finished!

This is just our favorite way to eat salads, so twist it any way you want to make it right for you! That's my favorite thing about salads, they are always universal! If you tried this variation, I'd love to hear how it turned out for you!