Main Dish Salad With Rib Steak and Okanagan Cherries

This salad began with a trip to the farm stand, where I found some incredibly beautiful lettuce, picked in the field right next door less than two hours before I purchased it.

The farm stand also had the first Okanagan cherries of the summer.  They were hideously expensive ($6.00/pound) but I really wanted some, so I treated myself to a handful.

I knew I'd be dining alone, and salads work very well for that.  With my farm stand treasure in mind, I planned a salad supper that would be robust and filling enough to serve as a main dish.  

This is a recipe for one person, but easily multiplied if you wish to make more servings.

Here's are the ingredients I used in my salad:

• about 1-1/2 cups of lettuce that had been torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 slice from a medium red onion, quartered and then broken apart (about 1/4 cup)
• Half of a leftover, boiled, red skin potato cut in 1/2 inch dice (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup leftover steamed green beans
• 6 sweet cherries, halved and pitted
• 3 ounces of leftover rib steak sliced thin and then cut into bite-sized pieces

Here's the recipe for the dressing:

• 2 teaspoons cherry infused vinegar.  (If you don't have infused vinegar, balsamic or red wine vinegar can be substituted)
• a pinch of salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.

I made my salad right in the bowl I'd be eating from.  If I were making more servings, I'd still do it this way.  It saves time and makes for less clean up.

Once the salad was assembled, I made the dressing. 

I began by whisking together the vinegar, salt, dry mustard, and honey until the salt and mustard were both dissolved.

I streamed in the olive oil, whisking as I added it, until it was emulsified into the vinegar mixture.

I drizzled the dressing over my salad.  

I used about half of the salad dressing. The rest went into the fridge for another day.

Just before I ate it, I seasoned the salad with freshly ground pepper.

I enjoyed my salad. The pepper, cherries, and beef were an excellent combination  I think next time, though, I'll omit the mustard from the salad dressing.