Eating out is really expensive, especially for a family of four or more. I’m always looking for ways to enjoy our favorites at home, as it saves money, and calories. One of my favorite things to eat is a cheese steak sub. Thin, tender slices of meat entangled with sweet caramelized onions and peppers, topped with silky cheese. As delicious is that is, the roll and mayonnaise accompanying the sub puts the calories over the top, so I needed a solution.
When we go out for Mexican, my favorite offering is fajita salad, so it occurred to me to skip the bun and mayo, and lay the cheese steak mixture over salad. To give an even bigger flavor boost, I first dress the salad with my homemade (and easy!) lemon dressing. The tang of the lemon brightens up the steak mixture and makes this dinner salad a mouth watering treat.
This is more like a technique instead of a recipe, but here’s what you will need for this dish:
steak, such as London Broil
onions
garlic
salad ingredients
salad dressing
cheese
salt and pepper
The key to good cheese steak is slicing thin pieces, so I use my deli slicer. I freeze the steak, and thaw it just enough for easy slicing.
I have been using London Broil, which isn’t the most tender cut, but sliced thin enough it ends up tender. You can also put the steak in the slow cooker after cooking, which will make it even softer bite. After I slice up the steak, I caramelize onions and garlic. The amount of onions and garlic are totally personal, although for about 2 1/2 pounds of steak I would do three cloves of garlic. To caramelize onions, heat up butter and olive oil, and add onions. Don’t add salt to the onions, because it will draw out the water in the onions and will not brown as well.
After you cook onions and garlic, remove from pan, add more olive oil and brown steak. If using peppers, add them with steak and cook until soft. When done, add onions back to pan and season with salt and pepper. Add cheese on top of mixture, remove from heat, and put cover over pan so cheese can melt. This looks like a lot of cheese, but there is a big pile of steak underneath.
Assemble salad with your chosen ingredients (I like croutons too) and toss with favorite dressing. I suggest an Italian dressing, or my lemon dressing. Place steak mixture over salad.
Hi Sally Anne! Partially freeze, and take a very sharp knife and cut against the grain of the meat. It probably won’t get as thin as with the deli slicer, but you might come close. Good luck!
That looks amazing! What do you suggest if you don’t have a slicer? I don’t think I can slice London Broil that thin.