Grilled Beef Fajita Salad

I'm not a very good summer cook.  I love the abundance of fruits and vegetables in season, but somehow I always find myself turning on the oven to cook them.  With our work and training schedules I find myself assembling casseroles and such on Sunday night that can easily be thrown in the oven Monday after we get home from work and then we eat on the leftovers for a couple of days.  It works out well for us that way.  The only problem is that this involves turning on the oven every couple of days.  I saw the idea for grilling Romaine lettuce on one of my favorite blogs, and thought that this may be perfect for my first stove top grill this summer.  It was so easy to throw together that we ate this three nights in a row for dinner.  Leftovers made pretty good lunches as well.

Ingredients:

Salad:

2 hearts of romaine

1 flank steak

1 cup corn

1/4 cup onion, diced

1/4 bell pepper, diced

1 small tomato, diced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 Tbsp Olive oil

Dressing:

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

4 tsp red wine vinaigrette

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

Marinade:

1/2 cup onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 jalapeno, minced

1 1/2 Tbs lime juice

1 cup beer

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 1/4 tsp cumin

1 Tbsp soy sauce

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade, put in a bag, and let marinade overnight.

Cut the tops and very carefully trim the bottoms off the romaine hearts making sure to keep enough of the bottom in tact to hold the leaves.  Cut the romaine hearts in half lengthwise.  Mix the ingredients for the dressing and brush all over the romaine halves. 

Meanwhile mix the corn, onion, and bell pepper with the salt and pepper.  Heat 1/2 Tbs Olive oil in a medium skillet, and add the mixture and saute until heated through, about 5-7 minutes.

Grill the steak for 4 to 6 minutes per side. Remove steak and let rest for 5 minutes. Slice thinly against the grain.

Grill all sides of the romaine hearts until just browned on all sides (about 3-4 minutes per side).

Top romaine hearts with corn mixture and sliced steak.  Garnish with cilantro and avocado.

Enjoy!