Dijon Steak Nicoise Salad. Less than 30 minutes to a lean, high-protein lunch or dinner. Sugar free, gluten free, and perfect for meal prepping.
You guyyyyys. Happy Monday. (Shrugs shoulders.) Don’t know why, can’t explain it, I’m in a good mood. Like a wanna-smile-all-the-time mood. (Ask me if this is still true after work today though. I’m curious how far this will go.) I’m just really happy about all the food blogging things. And about manual DSLR camera settings on sunshiney days and beautiful pictures of beautiful foods like Dijon Steak Nicoise Salad.
This is a remake of a post I published on July 2, 2014. It’s always so funny to read what I was writing and thinking and doing just three years ago. I mean, back then, I shared this salad. Psh. Not happenin’ this time. Nope. No way. Eating all the Dijon Steak Nicoise Salad myself. No friends, no friends of friends, no boyfriends, no family members. (Except, if you guys know me, you know that I shared anyway.)
I explain how to pronounce Nicoise in the original post below, but this time around I wanted to know all the things Nicoise. So, in my own words, here are the deets: A French salad — Nice, in particular — made of raw veg. Then this guy Escoffier came along and added cooked potatoes and blanched string beans and traditionalists aren’t very happy with this variation. Escoffier (which is fun to say… I imagine it as “ess-co-fee-yay”) is like the Father of French Cooking, which may not be entirely correct, but I know he’s a Big Deal French Chef, per Mark Ruhlman’s in The Soul of a Chef. (If you’re really into cooking and food and restaurants, I recommend!) I say, if Escoffier did it, imma do it too! And I’m gonna add some medium rare steak just to one-up him.
Thank you for listening to that history lesson and now what follows is a personal history of Danielle and what her life was like circa summer of 2014.
Dear Readers, I kind of cheated you with this week’s recipe. With his eyes closed, the BBF chose from the jar while wishing out loud, “Please be steak. Please be steak.” And out came… Grilled Portobello Mushrooms! “Congrats,” I said. “That’s the vegetarian steak!” And what a recipe — they were stuffed with an artichoke heart puree and topped with grilled corn something-or-other. Think about that for a second and feel your mouth water.
BUT. There was lots of grilling involved and (1) I don’t have a grill and (2) I don’t know how to use a grill. So that will have to be a Dad-Will-You-Please-Teach-Me Recipe. (Or maybe a Will-Someone-Else’s-Dad-Please-Teach-Me Recipe since my Dad has had his grill for 2+ years and is “Still trying to figure out how not to burn things because all grills are different.”)
Anyway! That’s how I ended up choosing Steak Niçoise [nee-swahz] (it’s French). And to the BBF, I just want to say Your Welcome and also Sorry (because this is probably the only steak recipe in that whole jar).
I clipped this recipe back in 2010. I didn’t even like steak back then, but it’s such a pretty salad!
What I liked
Lots of fresh, clean ingredients. (By “clean,” I mean unprocessed). Fairly easy. Fairly quick. Delicious. Healthy. Manly (Mmm steak!), and at the same time, also womanly (Mmm salad!).
What I did differently
I left out the Kalamata olives. [Heads up! In 2017, I did NOT leave out the olives. That’s just silly.] I like olives, but in the right place (Greek salad, lemon chicken). They just didn’t seem to fit. [They definitely fit.]
My rating
4.5/5 stars. I liked it. A lot. But I reserve 5/5 for my favorite recipes ever.
The BBFs rating
5/5. Surprised? Of course not!
Dijon Steak Nicoise Salad
Less than 30 minutes to a lean, high-protein lunch or dinner. Sugar free, gluten free, and perfect for meal prepping. Lightly adapted from Fitness Magazine.
Ingredients
- 1 pound flank steak
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 ½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 4 red potatoes skin on, each cut into eight wedges
- 1/2 pound green beans trimmed
- 1 cup grape tomatoes halved
- ¼ cup pitted Kalamata olives sliced
Instructions
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Preheat your broiler and coat a broiler pan with nonstick cooking spray.
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Rub both sides of flank steak with salt and black pepper and place on the broiler pan. Broil 3 minutes per side (for medium) or longer for desired doneness. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5-10 minutes before cutting into thin strips.
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Meanwhile, place potatoes in a pot with enough cold water to cover by an inch. Bring to a boil and cook about 8 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender. Remove with a slotted spoon. Add the green beans to the hot water and boil about 3 minutes until bright green and crispy-tender. Drain and run under cold water.
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In a small bowl, whisk olive oil, vinegar, and mustard. Drizzle about half of this mixture over the potatoes and gently toss.
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Arrange steak, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, and olives on a platter. Drizzle with remaining dressing and serve.
