After a summer dinner of grilled steaks with good friends, we end up with leftovers, and I love to figure out ways to use them the next day. Most of you have had a steak salad of some type, but I decided to put together a seasonal one combined with summer peaches and heirloom tomatoes, since they are so abundant right now. I think that either crumbled feta or goat cheese would also be a nice addition as well as sliced avocado and fresh basil. All of these fabulous ingredients tossed in a nice, light vinaigrette will make my husband smile after putting so much effort into grilling those steaks so beautifully the night before.

Let's start with the dressing:

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of one medium to large lemon
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl or dressing carafe and mix well either with a whisk or by using your Cuisinart hand blender until fully emulsified and set aside.

For the salad:

1 large head of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
2-3 petite filets, thinly sliced, or any steak you like to grill
1-2 peaches, thinly sliced
1 large heirloom tomato, cubed
1 package of crumbled feta or goat cheese
1 avocado, chopped or thinly sliced
2-3 sprigs of fresh basil, slivered

Optional: 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped and/or 1/2 cup sliced white mushrooms

After washing and chopping the romaine lettuce, scatter it onto a deep platter or in a large, shallow bowl. Arrange the sliced steak, peaches, tomatoes, and avocado any way you like. Sprinkle the crumbled feta or goat cheese and slivered fresh basil on top and drizzle the whole platter with the prepared dressing. Serve immediately with a nice, whole grain toasted baguette drizzled with olive oil and kosher salt.*

Please share any suggestions with me of any optional ingredients you used or your favorite steak salad recipe! I would love to hear from you!

*Or, because we had twice baked potatoes with our steaks, I took the leftover top of the potato skins that I cut off when stuffing them, drizzled them with olive oil, and sprinkled them with a little kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. After roasting them in the oven at 400ºF for about 15 minutes, I sprinkled them with a little parmesan cheese.