Cranberry Balsamic Steak Salad. The salad that I will be eating on repeat for the rest of the summer! Thinly sliced steak is marinated in cranberry juice, sriracha seasoning, balsamic vinegar and it’s all sorts of tangy and spicy! Meaning the most UN-boring summer salad ever. It’s colorful, easy, delicious, and perfect for a busy weeknight dinner!
Happy Wednesday! I have been a little AWOL working on some other side projects for the blog, working on plans for our upcoming living room renovation (SO tired of having our living room in the tiny formal dining room), and oh, I QUIT my job yesterday!
Yup. I did it. I have been commuting 83 MILES each way every day since we moved LAST YEAR. I thought I could handle the drive for a while. But I have been blessed with finding a new position as a systems engineer MUCH closer to our new house! SO EXCITED! I am hoping this will allow me to be more dedicated to the blog and have more time for other fun projects!
And I CANNOT wait to show you all progress pics of our living room renovation. I am hoping our contractor can start ASAP! We are pulling a Chip and Jo and knocking down a wall to make a BIG living room, new light fixtures, stone fireplace, and painting it a colonial blue to match our theme of colonial meets farm house!
So yes, MANY exciting things happening! Including this Cranberry Balsamic Steak Salad. I have actually been wanting to share this summer salad for a while now.
Because why should you only use cranberries during the colder months. As I shared with you in my previous post, cranberries are good alllll year. I once again used my favorite: Cape Cod Select Frozen Cranberries.
Because quality.
And because I genuinely have tasted the difference between the generic store brand frozen cranberries and these add another depth of flavor. Especially when you reduce them in a sauce pan for a few minutes.
I used the cranberry reduction as the base of my marinade for the steak.
I wanted to incorporate cranberries not only as an awesome dressing (I will get there next) but also infused with the meat itself. SO GOOD.
I added the cranberry reduction, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and this sriracha rub.
It brought out an AMAZING flavor in the steak. Trust me. Steak + cranberries are a match made in heaven.
I then thawed a few more cranberries to whip up a quick cranberry vinaigrette.
And that’s it!
Once you make the marinade and dressing. The salad comes together very quickly.
Bed of greens
Blueberries
Figs
Tomatoes (I sautéed mine until they burst and charred)
And it’s very versatile. Swap out blueberries for peaches. Or add almond slices and blue cheese crumbles. The possibilities are endless.
And I am trying to get you to use those frozen cranberries that have been sad and waiting in your freezer for forever. Or go out and get yourself the sweetest bag of Cape Cod Select Cranberries here.
This is my second entry in the Cape Cod Select Summer Breeze Recipe Challenge. Help me win by following Cape Cod Select on their social media accounts below:
Cranberry Balsamic Steak Salad
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: 4 salads 1x
Ingredients
- Ingredients:
- 1-2 lbs. of thinly sliced steak (I used top sirloin)
- For the marinade:
- 2 cups of Cape Cod Select Premium Frozen Cranberries
- 1 cup of water
- 3 tbs balsamic vinegar
- 4 tbs of the sriracha rub:
- 1 tbs chili powder
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 tsp salt
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- For the Dressing:
- ¼ cup of thawed Cape Cod Select Premium Frozen Cranberries
- ½ cup of olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbs balsamic vinegar
- For the salad:
- 4 cups of mixed greens
- ½ cup blueberries
- Sliced figs
- Almond slices
- Blue cheese (optional)
- Charred tomatoes
- Preheat large skillet to medium high heat, sear/cook steak until desired doneness (about 5 minutes per side) Allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- Assemble salads and eat!
Instructions
- Slice up steak into thin strips. Heat a sauce pan on medium high and add the cranberries (thawed or frozen). Once they start bursting, add the water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- Rub steak with sriracha rub mixture and place in a gallon bag. Pour cranberry reduction plus balsamic vinegar over top. Marinate over night (best results) or a minimum of an hour.
- While steak is marinating, make the dressing. Add all dressing ingredients to a blender and blend on high until oil is emulsified.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 10 mins
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