Steak Salad with Asian Chimichurri

Good day, friends!  It's been a bit since I've posted...apologies!  Busy gal, you know.  Always on the run (not from the cops or anything...don't get crazy!)

Over the weekend, our dear friends Amy and Margaret had us over for dinner.  Amy put together a steak salad with the MOST AMAZING chimichurri-like dressing I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing in my short almost 29 years.  She just whipped it up in 5 minutes, handed me a spoonful of it, and I remember nothing else.......

Ok, just kidding.  I actually think I said "holy guacamole, this is AWESOME and life-changing!" or something to that effect.  Because it was.  And is.  And now, since Amy said I could share the recipe, you too can try it for yourself!

There is so much goodness in here that it was hard to pack it all into one photo, but here's my attempt:

The stars of the show!

This photo is missing fresh oregano, fresh ginger, and fresh garlic...they hadn't been gathered/peeled yet...they're lost in the negative space. 

If you couldn't already tell, this dressing has an Asian flavor but is also loaded with copious amounts of cilantro.  Crazy good stuff.  Hope you've got a blender or food processor, as it's our vital tool in this dressing-making process. 

Roughly chop 2 bunches of cilantro and throw in the blender (or processor).  Peel 5 cloves of garlic and throw them in there along with a sprig of fresh oregano and a 1 inch piece of chopped fresh ginger.  Add 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, and 2 tbsp of the following: fish sauce, oyster sauce, and Siracha (more if you like things HOT), 1/2 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar.  Blend til it looks like this:

 

The finished product!  Looks like algae but tastes WAY better...promise!

Now, we're going to take a few spoonfulls of this lovely stuff and coat our steak with it.  Think of it as a marinade or wet rub at this stage.

Happy and sauce-schmeared steak hanging out on the grill

You can let the marinating steak hang out on your counter while you whip up a cocktail or take your dog for a walk or catch up on an episode of "Finding Bigfoot."  It will be fine.  When you get back, fire up your grill!

Jess and I are medium-rare kinda gals so our steak isn't grilled for too long.  Nothing worse that a steak that resembles a charcoal briquette by the time it hits your plate...blargh.  Ours came out juicy and gorgeous:

A hunkahunka tasty steak!

After a quick wash and toss of some mixed salad greens with baby spinach (organic...ohhh yea), the steak was sliced and arranged on top of the greenery in my feeble attempt to make it look pretty.  Fail. 

The steak salad with dressing globs...I'm no designer, ok?  I just cook here.

Anyways, despite the glob-like appearance of the dressing, this salad was to die for.  Figuratively speaking, of course...please refrain from death after eating.  Stay alive so we can cook more!   

I actually made this 4 days ago.  Though I quickly ran out of steak, I've been eating a salad everyday since then with this dressing on it.  I'm not normally a fan of "rabbit food" so, for me, this is crazy talk!  The dressing makes it THAT GOOD.

Try it.  You'll like it.

-Sam