Seared Rib-Eyes with Fancy Salad

This recipe is a take from Giada's Everyday Italian. It feels like a fancy dinner even though it takes minutes to prepare and requires little actual cooking. You can thank jarred, pre-made roasted red peppers from the grocery for that. Giada wanted me to make my own roasted peppers but I told her she was crazy. If you really want to pass along all of the work, have your man do the steaks on the grill outside. It will make him feel macho and you do even less work. Win!

Seared Rib-Eye Steak with Arugula-Roasted Pepper Salad

Ingredients

• 2 rib-eye steaks (OK I used strip steak, same diff)
• olive oil
• S&P
• arugula
• balsamic vinegar
• jarred roasted red peppers
• parmesan cheese

1. Bring your steaks to room temp by letting them sit on the counter for a bit. Put them on a plate and blot off all extra moisture with a paper towel. 

2. Season the steaks with olive oil, S&P, and whatever other seasonings you'd like. I think Johnny put some Tony's on there too.

3. Now you can cook the steaks on the grill, in a saute pan, or in a panini press. We used the panini press. It cooks quickly because it cooks from both sides. It only takes about 4 minutes total. 

4. While the steaks are cooking, combine olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a 2:1 ratio. If there is enough lettuce for 2 people, 3 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 1/2 tablespoons of balsamic should be plenty. Add some S&P and whisk together.

5. Chop the peppers into thin slices, bite sized.

6. When the steaks are finished, set aside on a plate to rest for about 10 minutes. That way, the juices will reabsorb. If you cut into the steak right away, all of the yumminess will flow out. Cover with foil if you're afraid they'll get cold.

7. Toss the salad with the homemade dressing and chopped peppers. 

8. You're actually done now but I just wanted to show you one more side I made. Roma tomatoes looked good at the store today so I sliced them, added some leftover basil, and toped with olive oil and S&P. Yummy!

Here is the final product. This meal turned out beautifully and was a perfect, fancy-meal dinner.