Pan Roasted Steak and Warm Kale Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad

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We have a special place in our heart for both kale and brussels sprouts in the cooler months and our favorite way to eat them together is by making it into a Caesar salad! Not only is it delicious but we even take it up a notch and pair it with a nice pan roasted steak. Talk about easy AND delicious! 

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Just imagine... warm kale and charred brussels sprouts tossed and saturated in a creamy homemade Caesar dressing with a perfectly medium rare pan roasted steak and all topped with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Do we have your attention now?

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Ingredients for Pan Roasted Steak and Warm Kale Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad

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Another reason why we're pretty much obsessed with this salad and make it at least once a week is because it requires minimal ingredients and tastes like a salad we would get at a restaurant. Here's what you need:

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• Kale: I’ve found that kale is by far the best green to use for this recipe because it has the perfect balance of flavor and texture when subjected to the brief cooking period. I certainly suggest using regular kale and not baby kale because baby kale tends to wilt a little too much. If you don’t have kale, swiss chard works as the best replacement.
• Brussels Sprouts: While brussels are my personal favorite for this dish, I have also done the same dish using sweet potatoes or even roasted root vegetables instead and I must say, it turned out pretty darn good.
• Parmigiano-Reggiano: Nothing beats the OG! Parmigiano-Reggiano! If you can’t find any legit Parmigiano-Reggiano then I recommend using Pecorino or another aged cheese such as Grana Padano, but please don’t use the stuff you keep in your pantry for decades in the big blue shakers. I don’t want to sound like a snob but trust me, the dish just won’t even come close to being what it should be with that stuff.
• Caesar Dressing: While I personally think that a homemade Caesar dressing is the best for this recipe,  I get that sometimes you just don’t have time to do everything fresh. In that case, just use your favorite store-bought Caesar dressing.
• Protein: I love serving this salad with a nice steak but if you are in the mood for something else, have at it! Chicken, pork, lamb, heck, even tofu works with this recipe!

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Notes on Cooking the Steak

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While there are no exact time and temperature measurements for cooking every steak universally, I think we all know by now that medium or medium-rare is what you shoudl strive for for the best tasting steak. Many factors such as the size/weight/thickness influence the cooking time, but so does the cut of meat (ribeye, eye round, sirloin, tenderloin, ect.) as well as the fat content.

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As a general rule of thumb, always start with a hot pan, add the steak, turn the temperature down to medium-medium-low, and cook the steak on one side until you have a nice crust/color. After that, flip the steak and repeat on the other side. If you're not familiar with how a steak feels to the touch when it is cooked to the proper temperature, don’t hesitate to use a meat thermometer. Even after 16+ years of cooking professionally in kitchens I still will use a thermometer occasionally. Just make sure you are sticking the thermometer into the thickest portion of the steak to get the most accurate reading.

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Steak Cooking Temperatures

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To help with the cooking of the steak, here is a guide to help with knowing when your steak is cooked to the proper temperature. As a rule of thumb, if you want your meat to reach a specific temperature, pull the meat off of the heat about 5-10 degrees (depending on the thickness of the cut) before it reaches the desired temperature. Even after removing the meat from the heat, the meat will continue to cook so you have to be prepared for the additional 5-10 degrees it will go up or it will end up over-cooking.

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• Rare: 125 degrees F
• Medium-Rare: 130-135 degrees F
• Medium: 135-140 degrees F
• Medium-Well: 140-150 degrees F
• Well Done: 155+ degrees F

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Tips for Making the Warm Kale and Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad

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1. Dress the cooked kale and brussels sprouts with the dressing while the vegetables are still slightly warm: When the vegetables are warm, they will be more willing to absorb the dressing. Once cooled completely, the vegetable’s pores close and then it does not fully absorb the dressing/flavor.
2. Season each vegetable with salt individually: When you season each vegetable with salt, you bring out each vegetable’s flavor. Sometimes when vegetables are tossed in a salad, they are not seasoned beforehand. You want each vegetable to shine in its own light so in order to do that you have to season in stages.
3. Make sure you rinse/soak the kale and then thoroughly dry it before cooking in the pan: Kale, whether being bought from the store or being brought in from the garden, always tends to attract soil and sand-like grit. Make sure you take the time to wash it thoroughly and then dry the kale before cooking it. Both steps are very important. The only thing worse than chomping down on little grains of sand in each bite is burning down your kitchen because the water from your kale reacted with the hot oil in your pan. To avoid both, make sure you wash/soak your kale, but then also thoroughly dry it as well.
4. Make sure you allow the steak time to rest before slicing: When the steak cooks, all of the juices inside move towards the center, away from the heat. If you were to slice into the steak immediately after cooking, all of those juices, which are still flowing throughout the steak, will all flow out of the steak and directly onto your cutting board. To prevent this, allow the steak to rest for 10-20 minutes after cooking so that the juices can redistribute inside the steak and stay there.

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If there is one recipe you can make weekly with minimal time, it's this one!

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Cheers and eat well!