Take Off the Heat With A Carne Asada Salad

     I love to cook, but I'm not like one of those geniuses in the kitchen that comes up with their own recipes.  With the summer heat, I had to think of ways to not use the oven. My salad garden was going bonkers, so I had loads of lettuce and kale.  To solve that problem,  I made  a lot of  main dish salads. When my husband was helping a friend work on their new house, I offered to make some dinners. 

     I had purchased some grass fed beef; so I thought about using my carne asada recipe, which by the way is a mix of three recipes I came across on the Internet.  I pulled a little bit from each and wa-la came up with an amazing marinade.   Then I thought I'd put some fun choices together so everyone could build their own salad.  It was a  definite hit!

CARNE ASADA SALAD

1.  Prepare meat: 
(1)  Rinse 1.5 pounds of flank steak or something else you'd like to use.
(2)  Marinade -1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar,  1/4 cup lime juice, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 teaspoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, and 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
(3)  Refrigerate for 4- 6 + hours.
(4)  Grill or cook it in a cast iron pan. Cut in strips.

2.  Prepare quinoa - Put 2 cups of water into a small saucepan with 1 cup of quinoa and cook according to package directions.

3.  Prepare vegetables - Put in a compartmentalized serving tray:
(1)  1 chopped red pepper
(2)  2-3 chopped tomatoes
(3)  3-4 sliced green onions
(4)  Quinoa
(5)  Drained canned corn
(6)  Chopped avocados

Serve with tortilla chips and ranch dressing

List of Other Salads on this Blog:

Greens/cabbage:
Make it Yourself Thai Peanut Dressing for Mandarin Salad  (My friend Judi's recipe)
KFC Copycat Cole Slaw   (A friend shared this with me)
Belizean Coleslaw    (From Internet search)
Antioxidant Rich Kale Super Salad  (A copycat from a deli, dressing from Syre School Cookbook)

Main Dish Salads
Gluten Free Chinese Chicken Cabbage Salad   (From my Heritage School Cookbook)
Baja Salad with Black Beans & Quinoa  (A remake from something I ate at a restaurant)

Mexican Grilled Salmon & Mango Salad   (From a Betty Crocker summer cookbook)
Jackson Square Shrimp Salad   (From my Syre School cookbook)
A Northwest Salad Favorite - Cobb Salad with Blackened Salmon & Shrimp

Pasta & Quinoa:
Tasty Gluten Free Pasta Salad  (Something I picked up over 20 years ago!)
Vietnamese Vermicelli Salad Bowls   (From an Internet search)
Michelle's Greek Quinoa Salad   (My foodie daughter's own delicious creation!)
 Another Great Salad with Quinoa - Janah's  Original Quinoa, Cranberry & Feta Salad  (a recipe my daughter came up with)

Vegetable:
Jeremy D's Sensational Greek Salad   (My son-in-law's recipe)

Grandma's Perfect Potato Salad   (Family recipe)
Rose's Refreshing Cucumber Salad   (From a Chinese friend)
A Great BBQ side Salad - Curried Pea Salad  (From my church cookbook, Come & Dine)

Dot's Easy Bean Salad  (Recipe from an  83 yr old friend of my father's)
A Great Summer Side - Broccoli Salad  (From my Come & Dine cookbook)

Fruit:
Grandma Marilyn's Frozen Fruit Salad  (My mother-in-law's recipe)