I’m currently trying to get us in the groove of eating more… salad. It’s actually a pretty big challenge, since we both need REAL meals for dinner, and love pasta/ bread/ and all things fatty/naughty/and carb loaded…
but I’m trying my best to stick to it!
When I saw we had some skirt steak hiding in the back of our freezer, I felt inspired to try a steak salad featuring some bold and wintery flavors. You know, to… shake it up a little!
Spicy arugula is the base of this bodacious salad situation, and caramelized pears, candied pecans, and BIG chunks of stinky gorgonzola are the colorful (and equally important) back up players.
And maaaaaaan, they can really make a girl (or guy) into salad advocates!
Salad success… it’s SWEET!
Here’s the recipe 😉 And Happy humpday, y’all! xo
Arugula Skirt Steak Salad with Caramelized Pears, Pecans, and Gorgonzola – Baker by Nature
Serves 2 as a main course; 4 as starters or a part to a meal
Ingredients
For the Arugula Skirt Steak Salad with Caramelized Pears, Pecans, and Gorgonzola:
1 lb. skirt steak, excess fat trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, for seasoning (about 1 teaspoon per side of steak)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 large pears, cored and cut into medium-sized chunks
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans
4 ounces crumbled gorgonzola cheese
4 cups baby arugula, washed and patted dry
For the Mustard Vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
For the Arugula Skirt Steak Salad with Caramelized Pears, Pecans, and Gorgonzola:
Heat a large skillet over a medium-high flame; add olive oil to skillet. When oil begins to simmer (you can test this by carefully placing a drop of water in the pan; if it sizzles ferociously, it’s ready), place steak in skillet and let it cook for 5 minutes. Turn it and cook for another 4 minutes (5-6 if you want more medium than medium-rare). Transfer meat to a large cutting board and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Prepare the rest of your ingredients while it’s resting.
Heat butter in a large skillet over medium flame. Once melted add brown sugar and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add pear chunks, stir, and then cook – stirring occasionally – for about 5 minutes, or just until the pears have released their juices and really softened up. With a slotted spoon (leaving behind as much sauce as possible) transfer pears to a clean plate.
Add pecans to the same skillet the pears were cooked in (keeping the pear juices and caramel in the pan!), and toss them in the caramel, cooking over medium heat for just 1-2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and working quickly transfer pecans to a plate covered in wax or parchment paper.
Once steak has rested for 10 minutes, slice meat against the grain into 1” strips.
Scatter arugula onto a large serving dish or platter. Arrange steak strips across the top, then add pears, pecans, and gorgonzola evenly around the platter. Lightly dress with vinaigrette, and serve at once.
For the Mustard Vinaigrette:
Whisk all of the ingredients together. Season well with salt and pepper and adjust ingredients to taste.
This salad sounds amazing! I love steak and arugula, they go so well together. It can be tricky getting guys to have salad for dinner, but this would definitely be a “husband approved” salad.
OMG! Loving these flavors!! Gorgonzola and steak are total besties!
OMG! This sounds like my husband’s kind of salad.
I have a similar battle – I’ve got so used to basing our meals around carbs that sometimes salad seems so insubstantial. This, on the other hand, would totally hit the spot.
my fiance would DIE for this – say steak and he is there! this looks gorgeous girrrl!
If all salads looked this good, I would have no problem eating one for lunch or dinner on the daily. Holy yum – those caramelized pears!! And the gorgonzola! Plus something about steak on salad just makes it sound filling and wonderful.
Very tasty
This is so my kind of salad! I love having salads for dinner and my hubby is coming around to it. VERRRRYYY slowly, but he is making progress. I have a feeling that if I put a salad that has steak and gorgonzola in front of his face he will not complain one bit!
Also, I am dying over these caramelized pears!
That is a beautiful salad and great balance of flavors. I would love this for dinner tonight!!
This is totally my kind of salad – perfect as a meal all on its own! I love arugula, and you’ve paired it with awesome flavours!
This is a salad I can get used too! Love the bold flavors and all the gorgonzola!!
Oh man! This salad looks amazing.
I could see this convincing the.boy to jump on the salad-as-a-meal bandwagon! I’m super excited about your mixins. I feel like caramelized pears and pecans could get me excited about anything, though.
Yummy. Don’t think I’ve ever had a salad with steak on it. I don’t know what I’m waiting for. 🙂
I would totally eat more salad too, if they were all like this one! 🙂
I could seriously have a salad every single day with these glorious toppings!
That looks amazing! Not sure I could convince my hubby to do the caramellized pears (he’s not super into fruit in his salad), but this could be a great “girl’s night” meal with my sister and mom.
Looks really good that, i always do chicken salad, keep forgetting can do a steak/beef or other meats….Haha, thanks for sharing this.
Simon
Oh. My. I am in love with everything about this salad! So guess what’s for dinner tonight…
Made this tonight and it was SOOO good! I had spinach on hand so we used that and flat iron instead of skirt steak. Will definitely be repeating this one! Thank you for sharing the recipe!!
Hi Molly! So happy to hear it! I may have to try it with spinach next time, too 😉
What Is The Caloric Intake Of One Serving & What Is A Serving Size?
Hi Robin. The salad should feed 2-4 people, depending on hunger. I’m not sure what the caloric intake is, but I’m sure you could enter the ingredients into a calorie counter online and find out.
Hi!
I’m going to make this tonight and was wondering, the ingredientes mention 1/4 cup light brown sugar and then 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar… Was this repeated? Or I should put both in with the butter?
Hi Nathalie. Yes, both sugars go in with the butter 🙂 Enjoy!
I made this salad and it was absolutely delicious! This combination of ingredients created an explosion of flavours in my mouth. I am definitely going to make this again! Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe.
Yay! It’s one of my favorite salads, too. Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed it, Michelle.
I made your salad for a luncheon I hosted about a month ago. I’m making it again next week because they keep remembering how great it was.
I added homemade onion rings to give it a little crisp and that was the cherry on top, awesome salad!
Whats the calorie count on this?