Cowboy Salad (grain-free : gluten-free)

This scrumptious salad combines some of our favorite foods: steak, fried potatoes, avocado, and fried eggs.  Served over a bed of lettuce and topped with a simple herb vinaigrette, this salad is a sure hit for everyone in the family.  It will even please those carnivore-types who think that salads aren't filling enough to eat for dinner.

This salad works great with leftover or freshly prepared steak and potatoes.

Cowboy Salad
Serves 2

• One Pan-seared Steak with Rosemary and Thyme
• 1.5 cups of Crispy Fried Potatoes
• 2 eggs, preferably from pastured hens
• 2 Tb butter, preferably from grassfed cows
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2-3 cups lettuce, washed well and torn into bite-sized pieces
• Dressing
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp finely ground celtic sea salt
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 2 Tb apple cider vinegar, preferably raw
• 2 Tb red wine vinegar, preferably raw
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1. If using leftover steak and potatoes, reheat the steak gently in a 225 degree oven or toaster oven for about 20 minutes.  Warm up the potatoes in a small skillet with a touch of butter.
2. If using freshly-prepared steak and potatoes, start the potatoes cooking first and then work on the steak.  
3. While the steak and potatoes are cooking/reheating, prepare the salad fixins by washing/tearing the lettuce*, chopping the avocado, and shredding the cheese.  
4. For the dressing, combine everything except the olive oil and stir it up with a fork.  Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while stirring vigorously with the fork.  This dressing will separate a bit while it sits, so just give it another stir before you drizzle it onto the salads.
5. Prepare the plates by arranging the lettuce and adding avocado chunks around the sides.
6. Slice the warm (not hot) steak across the grain into thin strips.
7. Melt the butter in a warm skillet.  I like to cook my eggs in well-seasoned cast iron.  The trick to preventing the eggs from sticking is to melt plenty of butter in the skillet, swirl it around well, and then add the eggs once the skillet is rather warm. Do NOT add eggs to a cool cast-iron skillet, else they will stick!
8. Fry the eggs over-medium in the melted butter. To make sure the yolks won't break, wait to flip the eggs until the whites are well set.  I then give the skillet a gentle shake to loosen the eggs before flipping them.
9. Once the eggs are done, top the lettuce with the sliced steak, fried potatoes, and an egg atop each salad.  Sprinkle with cheese, drizzle with vinaigrette and serve!

*My method for quick-and-easy lettuce preparation is to rip the lettuce straight into the basket of a salad spinner.  Fill the salad spinner with water and slosh the lettuce around to wash it.  Then pull the basket out and let the water drain.  Repeat the washing once more with fresh water.  Then drain the basket and use the salad spinner to dry the lettuce.
  
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