Paleo and Whole30 Steak Salad Steakhouse-Style
I have these strange lunch habits when I work at a particular location, and when I worked at Guitar Center many (, many) moons ago? It was walking to the Colton’s in the same parking lot at 4 p.m., or whenever my equally strange lunch hour was scheduled, stuffing myself with sweet yeast rolls and gorging on a sirloin steak salad. “I hate to be so obnoxious, but um… between rare and medium-rare?” I’d respond to the question of my steak’s temperature with a question. “Because, you know, it’s sirloin so… OK… just… yes, I will in fact take another basked of rolls…” And something about the crisp lettuce, positively drenched in garlicky ranch, layered with tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, croutons, and shredded cheese, topped with the tender sliced steak… Well, it was my go-to the entire time I worked there. The manager knew me; the waiters came to anticipate my vaguely pretentious steak temperature request. And because I was oh, 20 years old or something, I could eat three baskets of rolls a day and not gain an ounce… Now that I’m almost ten years older and focused on eating healthier, we skip the Colton’s and opt for steakhouse-style Whole30 steak salads at home instead. On a Whole30, I get so sick of choking down slabs of protein for dinner by day, like, 2. I end up making a bajillion types of meatballs, tons of zoodles, and loads of these Whole30 steak salads. Something about the crisp coolness of the salad seems to cut the meatiness of the dish for me without leaving me feeling hungry at all. It’s the perfect dish towards the end of the Whole30, when you never, ever want to see chicken or eggs or sweet potatoes ever again.
