Quick composed salads are a lunch favorite of mine. This salad is not a “30 minutes or less” – It is a 7 minutes or less!!!  

I will explain.  I love to cook and we usually eat home cooked meals every day for lunch and dinner. But, I don’t cook twice a day, or even once a day.  This idea of planning ahead and using pre-prepared food is catching on as more people who have busy lives and still would love to sit down to a home cooked meal every day opt for various strategies to accomplish it.

One of my strategies is to have several  days when I cook and on those days either cook enough for two or three meals and freeze them for later, or to prep or cook some items I will incorporate into a meal in a day or two.

This steak salad is super simple and uses flank steak I had vacuumed packed (recipe on blog).  Vacuum packing things like soups, stews and cooked meats, is something I do to either skip cooking some days altogether or to speed up meal preparation.

The cauliflower used in this salad had been roasted when I had the oven on to bake potatoes a few days before.  Using the oven for more than one dish, even if it will be eaten a day or two later is a good idea, especially in a hot climate such as Florida where you avoid heating the kitchen with a hot oven.

To make roasted cauliflower:

1. Cut the cauliflower in very small pieces so that you end up with a lot of small, feathery florets
2. Line a pan with parchment paper (for easy clean up), and sprinkle a tablespoon of olive oil on it spreading all over the pan.
3. Spread the cauliflower pieces on the pan and toss them with your hands so that they are lightly covered in oil.
4. Place the pan in the middle shelf of a 450 degree oven, and cook for 30 minutes, checking every 10 minutes and stirring the florets.
5. Allow to cool, and if using later, place in a covered container packing it lightly and refrigerate up to a week.

Ingredients for the salad:

1. Spring mix lettuce
2. Avocado
3. Roasted cauliflower florets
4. Flank steak

Directions:

If frozen, defrost the flank steak by putting it in the microwave and heating it in 30 second bursts, turning it each time you re-start the microwave.  It should be ready to slice in about 2 minutes.

Meanwhile, assemble the salad.

Slice the avocado and add:

Slice the flank steak very thinly

Add the meat to the salad

Add your favorite vinaigrette and serve!  Very easy, very quick!