Easy and Delicious Dinner - Steakhouse Steak and Guacacasalsa Salad

After three weeks straight of conference room dinners, I was in the mood to make something simple and fresh for dinner Friday night.  I was feeling a little anemic and had been reading articles about Cinco de Mayo, so I came up with this easy, fresh, and filling dinner on the fly.

I'm not one for exact recipes - I prefer to add and remove ingredients depending on my tastes (which explains why I'm a horrible baker), so this is more of a general outline than a recipe.

Steakhouse-style steak and Guacasalsa Salad

(feeds two hungry adults)

Two beef filets

Two large tomatoes (I prefer heirloom tomatoes because they have more flavor)

Two large avocados

Two shallots

Three limes

Fresh cilantro

Cayenne pepper

Salt

Pepper

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Salt and pepper filets to taste.
• Chop tomatoes and avocados - I chopped them in to large pieces because I wanted a salad - if you chop them in to fine pieces it will result in something more like a salsa/guacamole hybrid. Place in large bowl.
• Finely chop shallots.  Throw in bowl with tomatoes and avocados.
• Sear filets in a cast-iron or stainless steel pan.  To sear, place filets in pan, do not touch for two minutes, flip, and leave another two minutes.
• Move pan to oven.  Leave in oven for 5 minutes for medium rare steaks.  6 minutes should result in steaks cooked medium.  I strongly recommend against leaving the steaks in the oven any longer than this.
• While steaks are cooking, juice or squeeze the limes.  Pour over tomatoes, avocados, and shallots.
• Add cayenne pepper and salt to salad to taste.  Toss.
• Remove steaks from oven, rest for two minutes.
• Serve and enjoy!

The only thing I would have changed is to add cumin to the salad, but it's not a make-or-break ingredient by any means.  This dinner took me around 20 minutes to make, including chopping, so it's a great option for when you're busy or running late (which is me 90% of the time).