Steak Caesar

Y’all, I was craving some greens tonight.  And I know it’s Monday, which is supposed to be, you know, Meatless, but I was also craving some red meat.

That’s how this Steak Caesar was born – just like that.

See, I’ve been making some really good stuff here lately – and I plan to share it all with you in the very near future.  Super fun and decadent  things like Whole Wheat Croissants and Crock Pot Coq Au Vin.  All this fun stuff, though, it’s rich and fattening and it makes me feel sluggish and more than a little bit guilty.  My body, it knows what it needs.  And what it needed tonight was not flaky layers of buttery pastry or rich red-wine soaked chicken stew.  No, what it needed tonight was this simple, light Caesar salad.  With rare, rare, rare steak.

Did I mention it was rare? ‘Cause it was. Rare. Just the way I like it.

I love a good Caesar, but I don’t love romaine.  It’s kind of boring.  And bland.  And tremendously lacking in anything resembling a nutrient. That’s where the dinosaur kale came into the picture.  This dark, bumpy, reptilian-looking green just screams nutrients.  When you go to strip the stems from the leaves, the scent of minerals – metallic and earthy and oh-so-good for you – comes drifting up to your nostrils and you know you’re in for a tasty, healthy treat.  Paired in equal measure with the more traditional romaine, it takes a boring Caesar to a whole new level.  Top the whole thing with some beautiful beef tenderloin?  Fugedaboutit!

And no Caesar would be complete without croutons.  Luckily, I’d baked a couple of baguettes over the weekend, so I diced one up and tossed it with some mild olive oil.

The tenderloin, which was an end-piece that had been sitting in the freezer for a while, had been started on the grill and when I sliced into it, it was a little underdone – even for my vampiric tastes.  So I placed it on the pan with my croutons and stuck it in a 350F oven for a while.  My husband likes his steak medium to medium-well, so I needed to make sure at least some of it got done enough for his taste.

For the Caesar dressing, I combined:

2 cloves garlic, minced (I actually used reconstituted dried minced garlic – 1/2 teaspoon)

1/2 teaspoon unrefined sea salt

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 2 lemons)

1 whole egg

I whisked all of this together and then drizzled in

1/2 cup olive oil

Whisking constantly the whole time to create an emulsion.  Sometimes I add dijon mustard.  Tonight I didn’t, and it was just fine.  The flavor was a little lighter than normal, but I think that was just what I needed.

I reserved half the dressing for another use.

Once the meat and the croutons were done, I chopped up 8-10 leaves of lacinato kale and 1/2 a head of romaine and tossed them with the dressing.  I grated some Parmigiano Reggiano over the top of the greens.

Top each serving with 2-3 oz. of the meat and some of the croutons.  Top with more shredded cheese, and enjoy!