Summer Steak Salad

I’ve mentioned before that I have a huge crush on Jamie Oliver.


My hubs is just like him. Only brunette instead of blonde. American rather than English, and… well, he doesn’t really cook very often. So maybe he’s not JUST like Jamie Oliver. But he is cute, smart, and funny and charming -- like Mr. Oliver.

And he really loves good, healthy food. He believes in it. He embraces Jamie’s philosophy about cooking healthy dinners at home as much as I do, and we both preach to my kids about having a creative attitude about food, and we try to involve them in cooking and meal preparation whenever possible. My subtly amazing husband is pretty good at inventing easy, simple dishes, by throwing together just a few key ingredients.

Last night, on the way home from work, he had a perfect idea for dinner; an absolutely divine and amazing summer steak salad. We stopped at the New Seasons in NE, and found deep red, juicy organic cherries; buttery fresh tasting avocado, crispy cool red lettuce leaves, and a bit of ready -to-go, marinated lean steak from the butcher’s case. The weather has been extremely hot, and for as lovely as our Portland bungalow is, it is not air conditioned. Just the thought of cooking inside on days like today is enough to make me break into a sweat.

To go along with our invented salad, we picked up a bottle of Italian red wine, a freshly baked mini baguette with whole roasted garlic, and a pint dark chocolate ice cream for dessert. (Beer Ice Cream is on the menu for this weekend, but I doubt the kids will go for it)

Kev grilled the steak when we got home, which only took about 5 minutes, while I threw the salad together. The cherries took a little bit of work, but they added the perfect sweet juiciness to compliment the spicy meat and fresh greens. We ate outside on the picnic table in the backyard in sunglasses, sipped our wine, and listened to the neighbor’s sprinkler. A simple, romantic and lovely summer evening dinner at home.

Now if I could just get my husband to say 'brilliant' and 'veg' with an English accent.