Delicious Maple Steak with Apple, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Salad

Confession: When I was a kid I hated steak. I had one bad experience with dry, chewy steak and I swore it off forever.

Fortunately, as a young adult, I begrudgingly tagged along to a popular steak restaurant while my friends promised I wouldn’t regret it.  I didn’t expect much when I took that first bite. Wow, were my expectations were exceeded!

Since then I have enjoyed steak in many forms, a big juicy rib-eye being my favorite.  Unfortunately, steak, especially good grass-fed steak, can be a little pricey.  When you’re feeding a family (especially one that’s grown to have three teenage boys at once) steak – even once a week – is out of the question.

That’s why this maple steak with apple, walnut, and blue cheese salad is one of my favorite steak recipes. It calls for thin-sliced steak, which is much less expensive than a hunk of rib-eye or sirloin.

If you can’t find thin-sliced steak you can use another inexpensive cut of steak. Just cut into strips or bite-sized pieces to lay on your salad.

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Little Steak, Big Flavor

In this recipe, I use thin-sliced sirloin tip steak and a delicious maple vinegar marinade to give each bite a ton of flavor. It’s the perfect balance of sweet, savory and tangy.   This dish is hearty enough for dinner, but light enough for lunch the next day.  (The flavor only gets better overnight!)

If you can’t find maple vinegar, you can mix balsamic vinegar with maple syrup for a similar flavor.

Here’s the recipe. Scroll down for a printable version if you need one. Enjoy!

Maple Steak with Apple, Walnut, and Blue Cheese Salad Recipe

Ingredients
For the steak marinade:
1 1/2 lbs of thin-sliced sirloin tip steak
1/3 cup olive or coconut oil
1 TBS maple vinegar (or 1 TBS balsamic vinegar mixed with 1 tsp maple syrup)
1 tsp salt

For the salad:
Baby salad mix (I use baby kale, baby spinach, and baby lettuces)
1 apple (I used granny smith), cored and diced
1/2 cup walnuts (tossed with coconut oil and coconut sugar or maple syrup for added sweetness)
Crumbled blue cheese

Instructions
1. Mix marinade ingredients in a bowl.
2. Cut steak into 2-inch wide by 4-inch long strips.
3. Lay steak in a large baking dish.
4. Pour marinade over the steak and make sure each piece is thoroughly covered in marinade.
5. Marinate for 30 minutes.
6. While the steak marinates, heat griddle over medium heat.
7. When griddle is ready, lay steak on the griddle and grill for 1-2 minutes per side.
8. Arrange salad and serve on individual plates with steak strips on top of salad.