This steak salad with avocado-cherry salsa combines all of summer’s best ingredients – juicy, ripe cherries, fresh avocado, and sweet cherry tomatoes.
We’ve been on a major cherry kick lately and this avocado-cherry salsa is so amazing. I’ve served it on top of soft-scrambled eggs and it was incredible. The sweetness from the cherries combined with the kick of jalapeño and lime juice work so well with the richness of the avocado.
We piled this steak salad high with avocado-cherry salsa and warm, buttery tomatoes. It’s such an easy, flavor-intense summer dinner.
How to Make this Steak Salad with Avocado-Cherry Salsa:
First, you’re going to start with the cherries. Most of your time in this recipe is going to be spent pitting those darned cherries, quite honestly. After the cherries are pitted, roughly chop them and add them to a bowl with the cilantro, lime juice, and minced jalapeño and a little salt. You’ll let them hang out until the very end of the recipe when you fold in the diced avocado. I like to add the avocado at the very end so it doesn’t completely turn red from the cherry juice.
After you’ve got that labor-intensive part of the recipe done, the meal comes together in a flash. Simply sear the steak and let it rest for 10 minutes. While the steak is resting, dress the arugula with oil, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Quickly cook the tomatoes in the residual heat in the skillet you used for the steak. And then, add the avocado to the salsa.
From there, it’s just about plating! Arrange the arugula on the plate and place the sliced steak on top. Pile the avocado-cherry salsa on top and arrange the tomatoes around the salad. You’ll have some juice from the tomatoes in the bowl so be sure to spoon that on top.
The prep-work is a little intense at the start but it comes together quickly after that!
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Steak Salad with Avocado-Cherry Salsa
Equipment
- Skillet
Ingredients
Avocado-Cherry Salsa
- 1 cup cherries pitted and chopped
- ¼ cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
- 1 jalapeño trimmed and minced (seeds removed, if desired)
- ½ lime juiced
- 1 avocado
- Salt and pepper to taste
Steak Salad
- 12 ounce strip steak
- 1 tablespoon neutral cooking oil
- 2 tablespoons butter divided
- 6 ounces cherry tomatoes halved or quartered
- 4 ounces baby arugula
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ lime juiced
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Remove the steak from the fridge:
- Remove the steak from the fridge. Pat dry and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Prepare the Avocado-Cherry Salsa:
- In a bowl, combine the cherries, cilantro, lime juice, and jalapeño. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Cook the Steak:
- Pat the steak dry once more and season all over with salt and pepper. Heat the neutral frying oil in a skillet over high heat. Once very hot, add the steak and cook without moving for 3-5 minutes (depending on steak thickness and desired internal temperature). Flip and add 1 tablespoon butter to the skillet and cook an additional 3-5 minutes. Baste the steak with the butter as it melts.
- Transfer the steak to a cutting board and cover loosely with foil. Rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Prepare the Tomatoes:
- Melt the remaining butter in the skillet and add the tomatoes. Cook briefly in the residual heat, for about 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.
Prepare the Avocado:
- While the steak rests, peel the avocado and remove the core. Dice.
Dress the Greens:
- In a bowl, toss the arugula with the extra virgin olive oil and lime juice. Season with salt and pepper.
Finish the Salsa:
- Right before serving, fold the avocado into the remaining salsa ingredients. Taste and season again to your preferences.
To Serve:
- Divide the arugula between plates and arrange the sliced steak on top. Pile the avocado-cherry salsa on top and spoon the warm tomatoes around the steak. Spoon any extra tomato juice from the bowl on top of each salad. Enjoy!
