Steak Salad for Supper

A trip to the farmer’s market left us with piles of early lettuce, arugula, French radishes and tomatoes. Instead of spending $100 on each of us getting a nice Filet, we bought one ½ pound beef tenderloin filet for $12 at the “nice” store, since we are hardly going to cook it. The question was whether to grill the steak or pan fry. I wanted this to be almost raw, a quick sear on each side to make a crust, so I didn’t know if the (disappointing Jenn-Air) gas grill would get hot enough. So I pulled out my old trusty cast iron pan. I figured, searing hot, 2 minutes per side, to break down the fat and get a nice crust. And, frankly, it came out perfect.
Prep your salad by washing and drying your lettuce. Make salad dressing by combining 2 T. good olive oil plus 1 ½ t. sherry vinegar, a crushed clove of garlic and salt and pepper. Shake well and set aside until later. You can do all this ahead and chill while you take a nap after the Farmer’s market!
After your nap, cut up tomatoes, radishes, cabbage and measure your capers and shave the Parmesan. We like to lay all the ingredients out in our salad bowl.

Next, trim off the silver skin (that the expensive store left on). Crush some peppercorns, with the heavy cast iron pan. The heavy pan will keep the pepper from flying away! Preheat the pan until SUPERhot on high. Add 1 T. Canola Oil and spread around the pan. Cover the steak with the crushed pepper and some Celtic salt. Press onto the meat so it stays on. Put the steak in the pan fat side down (on its side) for 2 minutes. It will smoke, don’t worry, just turn on your fan. Flip and cook 2 minutes per side. Let steak rest for 5 minutes.