Hot Tin Roof Salad is a composed salad that has everything going for it, grilled marinated steak, grilled onions, Persian cucumbers, croutons, and fresh lettuce. It’s a complete meal you can enjoy with friends and a bottle of white wine.
I loved the movie Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, and Burl Ives. It just seemed the weather was so hot and humid in that movie, kind of like it was today in Glendale, California. Spane, Amber’s children and a friend all had a wonderful time playing in the neighbor’s pool, and as I watched them, I thought that a steak salad would be the perfect end to a perfect day. I decided to call the salad Hot Tin Roof Salad because it was so hot and steamy here, just like in the movie.
With that being said, one of the wonderful things about summer is all the great, fresh vegetables. Tomatoes are sweet and pop juice into your mouth. Lettuce is really crisp and the greenest of green. The little Persian cucumbers I get at the local Armenian store are tender and flavorful – not like their large watery English cousins with the waxed skins that always seem to come upon you later. Buttery Haas avocados are also plentiful – did you know that all Haas avocados come from one single tree that died at the age of 76 in La Habra Heights, California?
Let’s Make Some Hot Tin Roof Salad!
So the first thing to do is was cut up the vegetables, except for the lettuce that comes at the very end. Halve the cherry tomatoes. Slice the Persian cucumbers. Then slice a half an onion, and sauté it in olive oil. Combine them with the tomatoes and cucumber and marinate them with the Vinaigrette Marinade. Slice the avocado but put it in a Tupperware until you are ready to assemble the salad.
Grill the Steak
Grill two pieces of thinly sliced Top Round in the butter that has been flavored by the onions. Just before taking them off, put a little Worcestershire sauce. Let them rest a minute or so and slice them against the grain.
Make Croutons
After the meat was done, I had a nicely flavored pan. I cut up some French rolls and sliced clove of garlic to make croûtons. I just added butter to the pan, and then cooked the bread until it was nicely coated.
Now that all the ingredients for my salad were prepared, it was time to make the salad dressing. I wanted to serve the salad dressing separately because I wanted to make a composed salad.
Assembly
I have a large pasta serving bowl that I used because I had a lot of salad. Put large leaves on the bottom and up the sides then tare off smaller pieces. Then put the croûtons in a circle on the outside, then fill that with the marinated tomato mixture. Pour the marinade over. Lay the steak slices over the tomato mixture then top that with the avocados that make the “roof”.
Email Me the Recipe
Hot Tin Roof Salad - Composed Grilled Steak Salad
Equipment
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Ingredients
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 head curly lettuce, or red leaf
- Blue Cheese Dressing, serve separately
Grilled Onions
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
- 2 Persian cucumbers, sliced
- ½ onion, sliced
- 1 tablespoon *olive oil
Grilled Steak
- 2 slices Top Round, thinly sliced
- ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Croutons
- 1 French roll, cubed
- 1 garlic clove, sliced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Vinaigrette Marinade
- ¼ teaspoon *dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons *olive oil
Instructions
- Slice the avocado and refrigerate it in a small covered container.
- Prepare the blue cheese dressing, and refrigerate until ready to assemble.
Prepare the Marinade
- Put the dry mustard in a shallow bowl. Add the vinegar and mix with a whisk. Holding the whisk in one hand, gradually add the olive oil, whisking the whole time. The mixture will thicken slightly.
Make the Grilled Onions
- Combine the tomato and cucumber in a bowl.
- Heat an iron skillet, and add the olive oil. Sauté the onion until it is translucent. Remove the onions and put them in the bowl with the tomatoes. Pour the marinade over them, and chill until ready to assemble.
Make the Grilled Steak
- Grill the steak slices in the same pan, about two minutes on each side. Just before they are done, add the Worcestershire sauce, flip to coat both sides. Remove from the pan and let the steak rest about 5 minutes before slicing.
- Slice the steaks in 1/2 inch strips against the grain. Refrigerate until ready to assemble.
Make the Croutons
- Meanwhile, add the butter to the same pan, and let it melt. Then add the garlic and sauté until the garlic is soft about two minutes. Add the cubed bread, and cook, stirring frequently until the bread is crisp and coated. Remove from the pan, and cover loosely until ready to assemble.
Assembly
- When you are ready to assemble, have ready a large shallow serving bowl, a pasta bowl makes a good choice.
- Take the large outer leaves of the lettuce and line the bowl with those, fanning out the leaves nicely.
- Tear the remaining lettuce into smaller pieces into the bowl.
- Put the croûtons on the outside.
- Fill with the marinated vegetables.
- Put the slices of steak on top of the vegetables in a line, allowing the vegetables to show under.
- Top with the avocado slices.
- You can refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Serve with the blue cheese dressing, separately.
This salad looks amazing…and now you have made me hungry for it! Sending husband to the store for avacados! :-)
Wonderful, thank you very much for this really informative article. Just like your other blog posts, everything is well structured and clear. Thank you again!
Thanks for the kind words, George. Glad to have you!