Cook your Best Steak and Venison Steak Salad

Steak cooks quickly and requires very little prep time in the kitchen.  Perfect for nights when it's just too hot to stand over the stove-top.  However, many people are unsure of how to cook with venison or beef steak, so here are some tips!   1.  Deer are free range, so they roam and exercise more than domestic animals. This is one of the reasons venison may become dry and less tender if cooked too long since the short muscle fibers will get tough.   2.  The finer cuts like tenderloin, loin or steaks only need to cook a few minutes per side on high heat.  Typically 3 to 4 minutes per side is plenty.   3.  Also, marinating is a great method to reduce any gamey flavor and to help soften less than the tender cuts of beef steak.   4.  Prior to marinating, be sure to remove any fat from the steak.   5.  After cooking, serve immediately.   Best flavor comes hot off the grill.

For a hot night, a cold, veggie filled salad is just perfect.  Make it a full meal with a boost of lean protein like venison steak or beef flank steak. Teriyaki Venison Steak Salad Ingredients: -1/2 lbs venison steak or beef flank steak -1/2 cup Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki -5 cups of chopped mixed salad greens like arugula, baby greens & spinach -1/2 cup of halved cherry tomatoes -1 crown of broccoli, large, chopped -1/4 cup raw walnuts -1/8 cup brown sesame seeds Directions: Marinate the venison for 30 minutes in a Teriyaki marinade.  I recommend SoyVay Veri Veri Teriyaki, since even though it is store bought it's very clean and prepared with preservative free soy sauce, fresh ginger and garlic, onions, expeller pressed soy and sesame oils and bursting with sesame seeds. Heat your grill and cook meat to medium rare, tossing on broccoli in the final flip of the steak to blacken slightly.  Allow meat to cool for 1 minute and then slice thin.  Toss with baby spinach, baby greens and arugula, raw walnuts, grilled broccoli, sliced cherry tomatoes and toasted brown sesame seeds.  For your dressing, just splash a tiny bit of fresh marinade and toss well.  Enjoy!

Kelly Bowlin

Tacos Five Ways. Five Ingredients Each.

Ahh, the taco, a humble tortilla wrapped around a filling can tip the scales at over at 500 calories a piece for the American tradition of ground beef and cheese. I’ll be honest, there is nothing I love more than a taco, but I just can’t justify that calorie cost. Feel the same? Read on as I have 5 simple and satisfying taco combinations for you featuring just five ingredients each. Let’s get cooking.

Pan Asian Taco: Pork Tenderloin, caramelized onions and mushrooms, spinach and hoisin sauce

Marinate one pound of pork tenderloin in ½ cup of soy sauce and a splash of olive oil for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, thin slice a large onion and 10 button mushrooms. Sauté on low heat in a skillet for 20 minutes or until onions are nice and brown. Set aside. 

Toss marinated pork on the grill and cook completely done, about 15 minutes, turning over half way through.  Slice thin and serve immediately with flour tortillas, chopped spinach, a dollop of hoisin sauce and onions and mushrooms on top. Serves four.

The Cobb Salad Taco: Grilled Chicken, spring greens, hard-boiled egg chopped, avocado and lemon juice

Season two boneless, skinless chicken breasts with salt and pepper and toss on the grill. Cook completely about 8 minutes per side. Set aside and allow them to rest for 5 minutes and then chop into a large dice.

 Peel 2 hard-boiled eggs, chop and mix with one chopped avocado (see directions under flank steak recipe) and the juice of one lemon. Assemble your taco with a flour tortilla, a handful of spring greens, a spoonful of egg, avocado mixture and ½ cup of chopped chicken.  Serves four.

The New American Tradition Taco: Flank Steak, Romaine lettuce, avocado, chives and Sriracha sauce

Allow steak to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes or more then sprinkle steak with a little salt and pepper. Toss on grill and sear about 4 minutes per side. Let this rest for 5 minutes while you prep the rest of the ingredients. 

Chop and wash romaine lettuce. Cut chives into little dots. Slice one avocado lengthwise around the core and split in half. Remove the pit and with a small knife (not super sharp), cut the flesh into a dice while it’s still in the shell. 

Use a spoon to remove the flesh into a bowl. Assemble your tacos: flour tortilla, Sriracha (to taste or use salsa), romaine lettuce, avocado chunks and flank steak. Serves four.

The Clean Fish Taco: fish with cabbage, lemon juice, Greek yogurt and wasabi

Cut one pound of fresh fish into small fillets and toss in a small amount of fresh lemon juice and 2 TBSP of olive oil salt and pepper. Allow to marinate for 30 minutes.  Meanwhile slice half of a red cabbage into thin slices and squeeze the juice of one lemon onto it. 

Mix ¾ cup of Greek yogurt and 1 TBSP of Wasabi together in a small bowl. Heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the fish to the pan and don’t move the fish in the pan for 4 minutes. Allow the bottom to brown and then flip over and cook for another 2 minutes.

 Assemble your taco with a corn tortilla (warmed in pan for 20 seconds per side) topped with 2 TBSP of the yogurt mixture, a pinch of cabbage and fish. Serves four. 

The Truffled Egg Taco: Farm Fresh Eggs, sauteed spinach, white truffle oil, chives and Sriracha dots

Mix two eggs together and add to a large cast iron skillet. Cook thoroughly and set off to the side of the pan, finishing with a few drops of white truffle oil (about 1 tsp.)  

Add one cup of spinach to pan and cook until wilted. Assemble your tacos: flour tortilla, ½ of the spinach, ½ of the cooked and truffled eggs, a sprinkle of freshly chopped eggs and dot the top with Sriracha. Serves 2.