Monday Munchies: Warm Southwest Steak Salad

Laura is a great eater. She'll eat anything, however getting her to sit down for more than 3 minutes to eat whatever it is that I made her is the challenge. Tonight she sat down to eat and (almost) finished it all before she got up! My inspiration for the meal was a great salad place down the street from my husband's office called Chopp't. They always have cool combinations with lots of fresh veggies. Try the recipe out and hopefully you'll like it too! Now I came up with the proportions on the fly so alter them to your own taste.

1/2 Packet of Southwest Taco Seasoning

5 oz of Bison/Buffalo Steak cut into strips (You can use any meat, but bison is incredibly lean and low in fat and calories.)

1/4 cup Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

1 red pepper cut into strips

1 ear of corn

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

cooking spray (you can use olive oil, but by using the spray you save calories and fat)

90 second microwaveable whole grain rice

1/2 of a lime

ground pepper

2 cloves of garlic chopped

1 bag of baby spinach

1/2 a bunch of cilantro

1. Put the steak and taco seasoning in a Ziplock bag or Gladware and mix it up, then add it to a pan sprayed with cooking spray over medium heat (Bison cooks very fast so keep you eye on it.)

2. Light the grill and while you are waiting for the grill to heat up, spray your corn with cooking spray and sprinkle it with the chili powder and salt. When grill is ready add the corn.

3. Remove the steak once it is fully cooked and put it onto a plate topped with paper towels to remove some of the grease.

4. In the same pan, saute peppers and garlic together.

5. Check on the corn and remove it from the grill when all sides are grilled.

6. In your serving bowl, add spinach, cilantro, and cheese.

7. Heat up your rice in the microwave. While it cooks throw the steak into the pepper pan to heat up a bit.

8. Take the corn off the cob and add it to the salad, along with the steak, peppers, and finally rice.

9. Toss and squeeze 1/2 a lime over the top. Add a dash of salt.

It sounds really labor intensive but I did it with my 6 month old in the high chair and my 2 year old watching Kailan, so you CAN do it! :) Try it out and let me know how you like it! Remember it is relatively healthy due to the veggies and low fat steak and cooking oils, plus you get the whole grain rice in there.