Seared Steak with Chard Salad

Returned home from a week in Shiny City, put in 8 hours at work, got home and discovered I'm sick. Not this kind of sick, but a run-down, working-too-hard, 101 fever kinda sick. So the last thing I wanted to think about was dinner. Thankfully, my mind-reading husband saved the day again (how lucky am I?!?) and whipped up some Seared Steak with Chard Salad for dinner last night.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed, leaves thinly sliced
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups large crusty bread cubes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 to 4 anchovies
• 1 clove garlic, smashed
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless beef sirloin steak
• 1 teaspoon dried mint (we skipped this since Jason doesn't like mint)
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions
1. Put the chard in a bowl. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the bread cubes and season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing, until toasted, 4 to 5 minutes. Add to the chard.

3. Add the anchovies to the skillet, mashing them with a whisk. Add the garlic and 2 tablespoons olive oil and cook until the garlic is golden, about 45 seconds. Add the tomatoes and warm slightly, then whisk in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Pour the warm dressing over the chard, toss and set aside to wilt.

4. Wipe out the skillet and place over high heat. Sprinkle the steak on both sides with the mint, and salt and pepper to taste. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the skillet. Sear the steak until browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook until browned on the other side, 3 to 4 more minutes for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes.

5. Add the feta to the chard salad and toss. Thinly slice the steak and serve with the chard salad.

Reviews:

The kids bowls still had a fair amount of chard left (but they were begging for more meat!). Not surprising, though, as I'm pretty sure they have never had Swiss Chard and it usually takes a while for Miranda and Hannah to embrace new things. (Olivia gobbled hers up).

Jason and I agreed that putting the toasted bread cubes in with the oil mixture doesn't work. All we got was soggy bread crumbs. Next time we make this we'll hold them out until near the end, to provide a little more crunch.