Multicultural Salad With Carne Asada (W / Pics)

[tx smoker]

This one was a bit of an evolution. It started Saturday morning when I read a post from one of our members about flank steak. There was a reply from markh024 with a recipe for a marinade to make Carne Asada. That just sounded really good. Went to the recipe page that Chile has posted and saw his recipe also. Copied and pasted both onto a Word document and created my own combining some of each of theirs and adding a few twists of my own. Made a batch of all three and put in fridge for a couple hours to get happy. Sorry guys but after tasting them, mine won out. This was for dinner Sunday as we had a bunch of the neighborhood kids (all 5 of them) over for an all American cookout along with their parents. This is important because one of the menu items you'll see later on the salad was cooked for this meal. Sunday morning Tracy made the mandate that she wanted a salad for dinner that night. Bummer....there go my plans for the Carne Asada fajitas. I have made a couple of the salads that Joe ( xray ) has posted and one on the list yet to do is his Southwest Chicken Salad. I asked her if I could make that one but with turkey instead of chicken. The answer was an unequivocal NO. She did not want turkey but said I could make the salad as a side dish with fajitas. Half the battle won....I already had the meat marinating. Decided to do the Southwest Salad with Carne Asada. Heck, sounded good to me so here goes....

The skirt steak

Into a vac seal bag with the marinade

Now to Sunday. Made pico just as Joe has posted but added some fresh minced garlic

Made the Honey Chipotle dressing. This stuff is spectacular!! It'll be in the fridge at all times from now on. No changes to this one. Made it exactly as posted

Here is the corn on the grill Saturday.

Leftover corn shaved off the cob for the salad

Got some black beans on the stove with a little ACV and a nice sprinkle of guajillo pepper

Marinated skirt steak on the SM grill

Flipped. Gotta be VERY careful with this. Steak is so thin it'll get overdone if you don't watch it real close

All done and in the house to rest for a few minutes

Built the rest of the salad while the meat is resting. Got Romaine lettuce, black beans, grilled corn, and double pico.

Add the steak and avocados

A nice drizzle of the Honey Chipotle dressing and it's done

I know there is already a pic of the finished salad posted, but this is just too pretty not to post :-)

The final result...or should I say the aftermath?

Overall this was an excellent salad. The meat had a wonderful flavor from the marinade. The pico was a true star...so vibrant, fresh, and flavorful that it too will be a very regular item around here, especially since it's so easy to make. We will now be grilling all of our corn shucked and not wrapped, just right on the grill with butter and SPOG. The dressing is beyond words. I can't thank Joe enough for posting that stuff. OMG!!! It was so good. Matter of fact I made a Cobb salad last night with a couple tons of homemade bacon and used the same dressing for that one.

Ready for a real meal but Tracy is happy,
Robert

 

[Steve H]

Looks great Robert! I used some of your spice blend last night with tacos. Whew!!! Very good!

 

[tx smoker]

Looks great Robert! I used some of your spice blend last night with tacos. Whew!!! Very good!

Thanks Steve!! Glad you liked the spice mix. Does it still have a bite to if after 12 years in the making? Last time I used some it did...and I believe I did a fingertip taste test while packing yours up and it still has a nice little tingle to it.

Thinking tacos sound good tonight,
Robert

 

[Steve H]

Thanks Steve!! Glad you liked the spice mix. Does it still have a bite to if after 12 years in the making? Last time I used some it did...and I believe I did a fingertip taste test while packing yours up and it still has a nice little tingle to it.

Thinking tacos sound good tonight,
Robert

A very nice bite. But, very flavorful. I don't care for spices that have heat. But no flavor behind it. This was a perfect blend of both. Hats off to you sir!

 

[markh024]

Looks delicous! Great job. I like a bit more char on my flank but hey, still looks great!

 

[tx smoker]

Looks delicous! Great job. I like a bit more char on my flank but hey, still looks great!

Thank you for the kind words. I too like a char on steaks...all of them. The problem with this one was that it's so thin it would have been overcooked if I'd left in on long enough to get the char. Mesquite tends to burn very hot and I was really hoping to get more color but it just din't happen. I'd rather have it without the char as opposed to overcooked

Charless on this one
Robert

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Looks great Robert! I will second you on Joe's xray stuff! If you haven't tried it yet do the Mexican street corn he has posted. Its amazing. I too will always grill corn like that from now on. Gotta get the recipe now for the honey chipotle dressing!

 

[tx smoker]

If you haven't tried it yet do the Mexican street corn he has posted. Its amazing. I too will always grill corn like that from now on. Gotta get the recipe now for the honey chipotle dressing!

Thank you John!! I have every intention of doing the Mexican Street Corn. Tracy is from Kansas and corn is in her blood. we have seen it done on TV and she salivates when she sees it. It's on the "gotta do" list for her and because i think I'd love it too.

Here is the recipe for the dressing. Sorry...should have posted it in the original message.

• 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 2 small garlic cloves, roughly chopped

Put it all in a blender and let 'er rip!! I actually put all the stuff in a small stainless steel bowl and used the immersion blender. It worked great!!

Spreading good cheer,
Robert

 

[crazzycajun]

Thanks for sharing

 

[Steve H]

Thank you John!! I have every intention of doing the Mexican Street Corn. Tracy is from Kansas and corn is in her blood. we have seen it done on TV and she salivates when she sees it. It's on the "gotta do" list for her and because i think I'd love it too.

Here is the recipe for the dressing. Sorry...should have posted it in the original message.

• 6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 2 small garlic cloves, roughly chopped

Put it all in a blender and let 'er rip!! I actually put all the stuff in a small stainless steel bowl and used the immersion blender. It worked great!!

Spreading good cheer,
Robert

I've always been a die hard Italian dressing or a balsamic dressing sort of guy. But, this has me intrigued.

 

[xray]

It all looks great Robert! I’ve never tried using the dressing over beef, sounds like a good combo though. Glad you enjoyed it!!

I've always been a die hard Italian dressing or a balsamic dressing sort of guy. But, this has me intrigued.

I’m as Italian as they come. I’m an oil/vinegar guy on salads, maybe balsamic if I’m feeling frisky, lol! Don’t have much interest in ranch/french dressings.

This dressing is basically a mimic recipe of a dressing served at Chipotle. It’s really good. It goes great with chicken or shrimp, even works well as a marinade or glaze.

I like it when incorporating ingredients like rice, beans and corn. I never had it with beef but Robert thinks it pairs well.

 

[Steve H]

It all looks great Robert! I’ve never tried using the dressing over beef, sounds like a good combo though. Glad you enjoyed it!!



I’m as Italian as they come. I’m an oil/vinegar guy on salads, maybe balsamic if I’m feeling frisky, lol! Don’t have much interest in ranch/french dressings.

This dressing is basically a mimic recipe of a dressing served at Chipotle. It’s really good. It goes great with chicken or shrimp, even works well as a marinade or glaze.

I like it when incorporating ingredients like rice, beans and corn. I never had it with beef but Robert thinks it pairs well.

I didn't know that. I've only went to Chipotle's once. But didn't try the dressing. I have a pound or 2 of shrimp in the freezer. I'm gonna give that a go. How would you prepare the shrimp? Just SPOG and toss on the grill? Then drizzle over them? Or use as a marinade?

 

[tx smoker]

Just SPOG and toss on the grill? Then drizzle over them? Or use as a marinade?

If it was me, I'd just use it as a marinade and possibly baste one time during cooking. The dressing has a ton of flavor in it already. I'd be concerned that it might be too much with the addition of SPOG or possibly clash, but I do plan to marinate some thick center cut pork loin chops in it tomorrow's dinner.

Thinking it's be pretty darned good,
Robert

 

[xray]

Either way works. I’m a fan of a quick baste for shrimp on a grill.

Or....there’s always an or. What about using that spice blend you guys talked about? I might have missed the post on that or simply just forgot?? Season your shrimp in that and baste with the honey chipotle at the end?

Sounds like the beginning of a good taco...

 

[tx smoker]

What about using that spice blend you guys talked about? I might have missed the post on that or simply just forgot??

The spice blend has never really been posted. I have a bottle of spices that's been an ongoing project for 12 or 14 years now. Every year we grow a bunch of hot peppers in the garden, all sorts of them. Whatever the garden yields, I dry the peppers on the dehydrator, grind them up, and add them to the bottle. It changes every year based on what we grow and how much we get of each type of pepper. Steve and I were bantering in a different thread talking about different brines, spice combinations, and different things to put into the brine for pickling. I offered to send a small sample of several different things I had for him to try, and the spice mix was one of them. There are 20 to 25 different kinds of hot pepper in the mix so it has some heat and a very complex flavor. He also got some Trinidad Scorpion Pepper infused sea salt, which is interesting too. Not as hot as you'd think, but has a nice tingle and a very good flavor.

Robert

 

[tx smoker]

It all looks great Robert! I’ve never tried using the dressing over beef, sounds like a good combo though. Glad you enjoyed it!!

Here ya go Joe. Another very viable use for the dressing you posted. This is a Cobb salad...of sorts....that I made the other night.

It has romaine lettuce, the rest of the grilled corn from Saturday, radishes, grape tomatoes, a spicy pickled hard boiled egg, a ton of homemade pepper crusted bacon, feta cheese, and topped with the honey chipotle dressing. Can't tell you how well that dressing went with all the rest of the flavors!! It was really good, and Steve, those eggs are to die for!!

Mixing it up a bit,
Robert

 

[xray]

The spice blend has never really been posted. I have a bottle of spices that's been an ongoing project for 12 or 14 years now. Every year we grow a bunch of hot peppers in the garden, all sorts of them. Whatever the garden yields, I dry the peppers on the dehydrator, grind them up, and add them to the bottle. It changes every year based on what we grow and how much we get of each type of pepper. Steve and I were bantering in a different thread talking about different brines, spice combinations, and different things to put into the brine for pickling. I offered to send a small sample of several different things I had for him to try, and the spice mix was one of them. There are 20 to 25 different kinds of hot pepper in the mix so it has some heat and a very complex flavor. He also got some Trinidad Scorpion Pepper infused sea salt, which is interesting too. Not as hot as you'd think, but has a nice tingle and a very good flavor.

Robert

That sounds like a pretty good idea. So you just keep adding to the jar every year?

I’m sitting here thinking what to do with my pepper plants (2 hot chili/2 tabasco). I wanted to make a sauce but most of the tabascos are still green.

I’m planning on drying my hot oregano and thyme this weekend, and possibly making basil pesto to freeze....but after reading this and thinking, maybe I’ll dry the basil and peppers and mix with the thyme and oregano for a spicy pizza seasoning.

Also planning on pickling some mustard eggs this weekend too...sounds like I’ll be busy. So much stuff I want to do, so little time.

Oh, I did make some pepper vinegar the other day.

 

[xray]

Robert, that’s my kinda salad! My wife loves cobb salads and would probably stab me with the fork to get some of that.

Needs more bacon though...just kidding, it looks awesome!

 

[tx smoker]

That sounds like a pretty good idea. So you just keep adding to the jar every year?

That's correct. Whatever the garden yields gets dried, ground up, and added to the bottle.

Robert, that’s my kinda salad! My wife loves cobb salads and would probably stab me with the fork to get some of that.

Needs more bacon though...just kidding, it looks awesome!

Yep, I'm with you on the wife and her Cobb salad. Tracy saw one in a seasonal recipe magazine she gets and pounded me for several days to make one. This is actually the 2nd time around. The first ones were a bit different.

Oh, I did make some pepper vinegar the other day.

Ok, Joe....this is kinda scary. We seem to think WAY too much alike and I don't think the world is ready for two of us :-) You did vinegar and I'd made up my mind that I was going to do some garlic infused organic EVOO with my pickled spicy garlic a few days ago. We found a little place in Ruidoso NM a couple years ago that carries a line of gourmet olive oils and the garlic is our favorite....but the stuff is REALLY expensive so thought I'd try it myself. Actually got a few things going today. You're gonna like this. Here ya go:

Got the olive oil on the left with the pickled garlic, some jalapenos in the middle, some red onions on the right, and a couple beautiful butterfly pork loin chops marinating in your honey chipotle dressing up front. Those are gonna get grilled on the SM for dinner tomorrow evening. They should be REALLY good.

Off to my little pub,
Robert

 

[xray]

I like the sound of that olive oil! I’ve had some infused oils before at an Italian store a few hours from here. They let you sample oils, cheeses, stuffed olives and balsamic vinegars.

I bet it would go well with a pepper vinegar. I could see the evoo/vinegar going well with a 3 bean salad. I’m kinda hungry for that now. I’ll have to see about making some this weekend.

Let me know how that marinaded pork chop comes out.