filet mignon salad w/ balsamic-blue cheese dressing

Living on cape cod has it pro's and con's. Pro's: summertime on the beach, endless supply of fresh seafood, close to both islands, provincetown, ice cream stands everywhere. Con's: long winters, limited sun, endless supply of tourists, limited supply of restaurants, limited supply of farmers markets, and no whole foods, BUT we do have a Trader Joe's. And when I say limited I do mean limited because most family owned businesses that are restaurants close down for the winter. Most of the family owned restaurants are fairly good (for the cape). We do have a small amount of the larger chain restaurants like Chili's, Outback, Friendly's, etc.. Not many really. It is rare for the hubby and I to go to a large chain restaurant. If we do it's because we are desperate, there are long lines at the seafood joints or we're just plain stupid. The latter for the most recent trip to Outback. I don't know why we did what we did because my inner voice told me not to go to Outback. Yes, it was awful. I ordered the steak salad. On the menu the steak salad sounded really good: a sliced filet mignon with balsamic and blue cheese and a nice wedge of iceberg with tomatoes/onions. Plus the photo looked really good! What I got was nothing like the photo (see photo below), it was small, micro-small, and way over-cooked, plus the iceberg wedge was mostly white (under grown lettuce). Have you ever seen white iceberg? Scary. I made sure to let the manager know of my situation and that I was not happy. Nothing was done. For real.



To quote Miranada from Sex and the City, who said while eating at the "raw" restaurant after drinking a shot of wheatgrass juice "I'm going to need a pizza after this!". That is exactly what hubby said after eating half of his micro-mini, gamey cheeseburger and fries, served on greasy plate.

This turn of bad foodie events prompted me to remake this steak/salad dish at home.

My version came out perfectly. Wasn't heavy at all. When the hubby eats a meal that he loves he won't come up for air or speak until half is devoured--half time! And at that point he exclaims, as always, I can even mouth in-tune, with him, as he says "this is the best dish ever!"

The sauce is great mingling of tastes when combined with the blue cheese. Plus the beef I used is a lot safer than what is served in those larger chains. Heavens knows where their beef comes from and what it was fed.

And the real point I wanted to make: this is really easy to make. Simple, tasty and fast. You can easily make the reduction sauce a day ahead and chop up veggies ahead of time. This meal is a great way to impress friends for your summertime lunch/dinner. I did grill the steaks in a cast iron pan (for the nice grill marks), but one can easily grill these too. Just watch the steaks if you use a filet cut as filet's tend to cook a lot faster than a strip steak or porterhouse.

Leftovers make EXCELLENT steak sandwiches on toasted buns!



filet mignon salad w/ balsamic-blue cheese dressing
print recipe

2 filet mignons
1 small red onion, chopped
heirloom tomatoes (or regular tomatoes)
salt & pepper

for the sauce:
1/4 cup balsamic dressing (trader joe's has a good one)
5 TB Worcestershire sauce
chunky blue cheese dressing
1/4 cup (or more) danish blue cheese crumbles

In a small bowl mix the balsamic dressing and worcestershire sauce, set aside

Season the filets with salt & pepper.
Get your grill or cast iron grill pan ready--nice and hot.
Cook the steaks. And on the cooked sides generously douse them with the balsamic miixture. I just poured the sauce right on the steaks and caramelized both sides of the steak.
It makes a nice sticky coating. Make sure to do both sides.
And if you want, with any remaining sauce, go ahead and make a quick reduction (heat up, boil a few minutes till sauce thickens just slightly) to use on the salad wedge and any extra you want on the steaks and/or veggies.

Serve the steaks with a wedge of iceberg lettuce and heirloom tomatoes.
Then drizzle lettuce and tomatoes with blue cheese dressing, then the blue cheese crumbles..
Top the steak and salad with red onions.
Do a drizzle of the reduction sauce if desired.