Pomegranate steak salad

This salad is ready to eat in 15 minutes (thanks to a quick-sear on thin-cut strips of steak). It has deviated so much that I published a new version, Steak arugula salad.

Recipe

Arugula steak salad with pomegranate dressing

Veronica T

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 18 minutes mins

Calories 687

Servings 2 dinner-sized salads

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Ingredients

  

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Salad

• ¾ lb steak flank, sirloin or hanger steak
• 1 Tbs oil
• sea salt
• pepper
• 4-5 ounces arugula one 5-oz plastic container
• ½ cup pomegranate seeds
• 3 ounces feta cheese or goat cheese

Dressing

• 3 tablespoon pomegranate molasses see note
• 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

PREP

• This comes together fast, so it's actually important to get everything out on your counter and ready:
• A cast iron skillet or heavy bottom pan, tongs, a cutting board to slice up the meat after it cooks, a mixing bowl for the dressing, a whisk, measuring cups & spoons, and all ingredients.

PREP & SEAR STEAK

• Heat a cast iron or heavy bottom pan on high heat. Rub steak with sea salt (or kosher salt) and pepper.
• Add oil to the hot pan, then add steak to the hot oil. Make sure it's hot so you can sear the outside before the inside overcooks.

  Sear steak for about 3 minutes per side (or more for a thick steak). When it's done, set aside on cutting board and let rest for a few minutes.

MAKE DRESSING WHILE STEAK RESTS

• Whisk the pomegranate molasses, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and mustard together in a mixing bowl (or shake together in a jar). Add salt and pepper to taste.

SLICE & SERVE

• Slice the steak. Place on a bed of arugula. Drizzle with dressing and top with pomegranate seeds and feta cheese.

Notes

Pomegranate molasses: buy a brand where the only ingredient is pomegranate juice. Brands with added sugar and citric acid always taste off. Try Burlap & Barrel or Sadaf brands.

Steak options:

• Flank steak cooks fast and stays tender, fairly lean
• Skirt steak is fattier and chewier, but more steak flavor
• Sirloin works if you slice it thin (due to tighter muscle fibers)

The steak accounts for a little over 300 calories per dinner-sized serving. The dressing adds about 250 calories because of the pomegranate molasses.

Arugula: a 5-ounce container makes 2 giant dinner-sized servings or 4 good-sized side salads.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 687kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 45g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 22g | Trans Fat: 0.03g | Cholesterol: 128mg | Sodium: 609mg | Potassium: 749mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 23g | Vitamin A: 1549IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 321mg | Iron: 4mg

Making this recipe?Let me know how it was! (which helps anyone else who drops by!)

Nutrition: an in-depth look

This steak salad is quick and easy, but a little high in sugar. While I love this salad with all of the dressing, reducing the pomegranate molasses by half cuts out 5g of sugar and 61 calories.

Below is a table of calories and sugar per serving, broken down by ingredient.

Recipe Notes

• Seeding a pomegranate. When I want this to be a very fast dinner, I buy a package of pomegranate arils (seeds). But when you have fresh pomegranates, there are a few tricks to seed them. This video shows 2 methods: hitting a cut pomegranate with a wooden spoon, and another method to submerge it in water. I like the submersion method.
• The pomegranate produce guide explains how to pick out fresh pomegranates as well as buying just the seeds from the store.
• Choosing the right steak. For this recipe you want a steak that is thin, cooks fast, and is tender with minimal cooking time. Here's a list of cuts that are good for grilling, which is similar to the high-heat cast iron method we use for this recipe.
• Sugar. This recipe has more added sugar than a normal dinner - 13 grams. The recommended daily value of added sugar is about 20-26g, and for comparison a regular soft drink is about 39g.

Round out the meal

This steak salad can be a meal in itself, however you can make it a side salad to pair with a good bowl of soup, like a celeriac (celery root) soup or roasted cauliflower soup. You could also cut back on the amount of steak per serving and add farro or bulgur wheat to the salad.