Steak-Spinach Salad with Sour Cream Potatoes Recipe

This is it!  

My very first Food Network Magazine recipe test, and I'm excited to do it.  

This recipe originally appeared in the July/August 2010 Food Network Magazine.  I chose it as my first recipe because it was a part of their, "Weeknight Cooking" recipe collection, which means the recipes are meant to be quick!

As promised, I will follow the recipe as written, noting the changes that I may have needed to make due to availability of ingredients, availability of kitchen equipment, etc.  

At the end, I will report on my family's opinion of the finished product, as well as my personal suggestions on changes I would make the next time I prepare the recipe, if any are needed!

So, let's get started:

Here's the original recipe from the magazine:

Steak-Spinach Salad with Sour Cream Potatoes

Active: 35 Minutes  |  Total: 1 Hour 20 Min.  | Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 medium russet potatoes

3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing

1/2 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons buttermilk

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1 3/4-pound boneless sirloin steak

1 large red onion, sliced into thick rings

6 ounces baby spinach or chopped regular spinach

2 to 3 tablespoons steak sauce

Directions: (Original directions from Food Network Magazine are in bold; my substitutions/alterations are marked with an asterisk (*).

1.  Preheat oven to 400°.  Pierce the potatoes with a fork and brush with olive oil

-Bake directly on the oven rack until tender, about 1 hour* 

*As you can see, I used my really beat-up "baked potato pan" instead of doing it directly on the rack 

-Cool slightly, then cut into chunks.  

-Mix the sour cream, buttermilk, chives, and lemon juice in a large bowl, and season with salt and pepper

-Stir in the potatoes

2.  Meanwhile, preheat a grill to high*  

*We do not currently have a grill, so I used a cast-iron skillet, heated over a medium stove.  This is an easy alternative to grilling, especially if it's cold outside!  Cast-iron is cheap, and if well-maintained, will last FOREVER.

-Brush the steak and onion rings, and season with salt and pepper

*There weren't any red onions at the grocery store, but I did have 1/2 of one in the refrigerator, so I used that, and 1/2 of a yellow onion.

-Grill the steak until marked on the bottom, about 7 minutes, then turn and cook 4 to 5 minutes more for medium rare*

*I seared both sides of the sirloin for approximately 5-6 minutes, then transferred the skillet into the 400° oven to finish cooking, for 12 minutes (for medium rare)

-Grill the onion rings until charred, about 2 minutes per side.*

*Since I was doing this in the skillet, I needed to wait until the steak was done to make the onions.  Looking back, I could have had both of my cast-iron skillets cooking at the same time, but we have a small oven!

-Transfer the steak and onion rings to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes

-Roughly chop the onion rings and toss with the spinach, steak sauce, 3 tablespoons olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl

-Thinly slice the steak*

*I cooked the steak to medium rare, as the recipe suggested, but it was a little too underdone for me to serve to my children, so I cooked it longer (1 minute per side) in the skillet to be medium for the kids.  I ended up putting the rest of the steak back in the skillet, and back in the oven for another 15 minutes, after I got the kids plates fixed.

-Divide the salad among the plates, top with the steak, and serve with the potatoes

Our Opinion on the Recipe:

We loved it!  It was an easy recipe, and will be something I make again.  While it was a little more work intensive than I would have desired, I believe that using the grill, rather than the cast-iron skillet, will cut time off the recipe.  

What We Would Change:

My husband said that it was delicious, and he wouldn't change anything!  

I would add fresh dill to the potatoes the next time, as I believe it would add a great taste.  And because I love vegetables, I would add some grilled bell pepper to the grilled onions, and possibly cherry tomatoes, to make the salad more colorful and nutritious.

My son said it was awesome!

My daughter wondered why I served spinach, even though I know that she doesn't care for it 😑  Note: I will continue to serve spinach to her.

OVERALL SCORE:

4.8 OUT OF 5

If you decide to make this recipe, please comment on how you liked it, or what you changed.

Thanks for visiting, and I will see you next week!

GUTEN APPETIT!