Grilled Steak Salad

Took my dad three batches to stop adding his own seasoning. Fourth time he made it himself and I got a text asking if monk fruit and avocado oil come in bulk.

That lime vinaigrette is so good I’ve been using it on other salads too.

Leave some extra vinaigrette on the table.

Monk fruit in a marinade sounds wrong. Do it anyway.

Agreed, needs more lime.

Third time with this recipe and I finally figured out the sesame oil. Tried reducing it to a quarter teaspoon on my second batch, marinade tasted flat. Full amount and that depth comes back. Weird ingredient for steak, but it’s doing something.

Kept the vinaigrette separate, steak over arugula. Four lunches, done. The monk fruit marinade holds up after reheating, which I didn’t expect. Watch your grill temp though. I went too hot the first time and lost most of that flavor to the char.

Tried this with flat iron instead of skirt steak since that’s what the butcher had, and the leftovers were better for it. Flat iron slices cleaner when cold, so the next-day salad held together instead of getting stringy. I also doubled the chile powder in the marinade and the heat plays really well against that lime vinaigrette. Going in the meal prep rotation.

This marinade is close enough to my grandmother’s cookout version that I had to stop and text her the link.

Didn’t have skirt steak so I used flat iron, marinated it overnight (wasn’t sure if that was too long). Way more tender than expected, and the sweet/spicy flavor went all the way through. Also usually a dollar or two cheaper per pound.

I’ve tried probably four or five keto steak salads at this point and they all kind of blur together. This one doesn’t. The monk fruit in the marinade gives it this sweet-char when it hits the grill that I haven’t gotten from anything else. The lime vinaigrette ties it all together without being heavy. Going into my regular spring rotation.

I’ve made a few different keto steak salads and they were fine, but something about the monk fruit marinade here just works differently, the skirt steak picks it up in a way that lime juice alone never managed. This is the version I’ll actually keep making.

Added a sliced jalapeño to the marinade. The heat plays off the monk fruit way better than I expected. That sweet-spicy balance on skirt steak was already there, but the jalapeño makes it loud.

Ran out of skirt steak so I grabbed chicken thighs and used the same monk fruit marinade. Wasn’t sure it would translate but the chile powder and sesame oil carried over really well. The lime vinaigrette at the end was what tied it together for me. Planning to try it with the actual skirt steak next time, but good to know the marinade holds up either way.

Didn’t expect a keto marinade to actually taste sweet. The monk fruit surprised me. Been off track since January and this was the first meal that made me want to get back to it.

Never grilled steak before and kept hovering over the grill, sure I was going to ruin it. But that sweet and spicy marinade smells SO good when it hits the heat, almost caramelizes on the outside. Steak came out way more tender than I expected, and the lime vinaigrette pulled it all together. Already planning a repeat this weekend.

Grabbed flat iron instead of skirt steak because that’s all I could find, and the lime vinaigrette soaked into the slices almost like a second marinade once I cut into it. Didn’t plan that but I’ll do it on purpose next time.

Added a tiny splash of fish sauce to the marinade on a whim and the skirt steak came off the grill with this savory-caramel crust that stopped me. So much more complexity than the base recipe (which is already great). First grill of spring and I’m already obsessed.

Made this the first warm-enough night to drag the grill out and my husband (who does not eat salads, ever) finished his plate, looked at me and said ‘that’s actually a meal.’ The monk fruit in the marinade has this subtle sweetness I think is what got him.

Probably made a dozen steak salads over the past two years (chimichurri, caesar, balsamic) and nothing landed like this one. Something about the monk fruit in the marinade, that small bit of sweetness against the chile powder, created this depth I kept turning over while eating. The skirt steak pulled it in better than flat iron, which is what I usually grab. More surface area, I think. It came off the grill with a caramelized edge I wasn’t expecting for a salad. That lime vinaigrette looks like barely anything on paper but it cuts straight through the fat, nothing else needed. Added a pinch of extra cumin to echo the marinade and that was the right call. Already planning this for a dinner I’m hosting next Friday.