From the archives. This is one of the best salads you can imagine on a hot summer day. Enjoy!
I may not have been born Texan, but Texas is where I call home these days and proudly so at that. Texas has been good to both my wife and I from the day we set foot here and even though we’re sure to leave her eventually, for now I’m Texan, and a piece of my heart will always be in the Lone Star State. A part of me will always be Texan. The place is just like that, it can’t help itself.
Having said that, you might be able to surmise how tickled I was to get a message from the Texas Beef Council asking me to help spread the word about Texas Beef. We really don’t need to go into all the yelling and carrying on that happened on this end of that conversation, so let’s just say I was happy to accept shall we? The nice folks over at Texas Beef sent me a few recipes and a $25.00 prepaid card to buy whatever ingredients I’d need for the party, which was nice of them since I would have done it on my own dime anyway.
After looking over our choices, my wife and I decided on the Gazpacho Steak Salad. It looked pretty refreshing for days still well into the 90’s with an average 45% humidity and it sounded a bit different from the dishes we’d been having over the past few weeks, which would make for an interesting change of pace, so I set off for the store to get what I needed and got to work.
Of course I couldn’t follow the directions 100%, could I? That’s not in my nature unless bread making is involved. (which is why I leave that up to my wife when possible). Not only did I forget I’d used up one of the ingredients, but I managed to misread the recipe in the process of making the dish, though neither change was that large a departure from the original.
My thoughts? Well, you’ll have to read through my version of the recipe to get those. I wouldn’t want to give everything away at the very beginning of the story. (Based on the original recipe from the Texas Beef Council, which can be found here)
Gazpacho Steak Salad Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
What I would have done differently had I thought of it at the time:
Honestly, I think this salad has the potential to be amazing. I forgot that we’d used up the tortilla chips they called for in the original recipe, but to be honest, I probably wouldn’t have used them anyway. I also read celery when making it, but it was not originally called for, though I found it a nice addition.
For me, the dressing was just a bit heavy. I’m not sure if I got the ratio wrong, or if it’s because of the addition of vegetable juice. Whatever the reason, I’m going to give this another shot with some lighter greens (say a romaine and iceberg combination) and some brighter flavors to see what happens.
All-in-all, if you’re looking for an excuse to grill before the weather in your neck of the woods turns bad, this is one heck of a way to go.
Links to other recipes like this:
- Gazpacho Steak Salad, from the Texas Beef Council. (Check out their other recipes, too!)
- Steak Salad Recipe, from Simply Recipes
- Leftover Steak Salad Recipe with Feta Vinaigrette and Kalamata Olives, from Kalyn’s Kitchen
@kellypea,
It actually worked wonderfully as a marinade. I was surprised. It’s definitely something I’ll be using again, though!
@Niki,
Not RAW, Lil’ sister. It’s a little past rare.. Just the way we like it ’round here! And of course you wouldn’t eat it. It’s GOOD for you!
Since I am probably your most difficult critic, I thought that I should say that even though I personally would NEVER eat this meal that it looks absolutely delicious! A job done well! (Not really since the meat is “raw”, but you know what I mean.) Therefore, with that said, good job Dude! Kudos’.
I love spicy tomato juice and often kept a can in my desk when I didn’t have time for lunch. I never thought of using it as a marinade for meat. Totally interesting. It makes complete sense, though. The salad looks healthy and good. No, I’d leave the chips out — this looks too fresh for them. As far as the salad dressing goes, I always think there’s too much, so rarely make or use all of what is called for.
Great dish — it puts all the things I would serve separately into one delicious whole.
@Lydia
I’m pretty sure that with a few tweaks it would be perfect, and no one knows pantry spices like you do. Why don’t you give it a go?
What’s in the can of spicy 100% vegetable juice that you used as the marinade … because I’d have to wing that.
Wow this looks great, thank you for sharing
Wow awesome recipe thanks. I love any salad with steak in it! You guys sure do know how to eat your meat in Texas…a little past raw is exactly how I like it.
That looks like an amazing salad. I love my steak medium -medium rare but this looks like somthing I would enjoy. I can wait to get back home from work and start cooking.
The wife says I need to eat more salad, this is my kind of salad!
I can hardly wait to try this!!