Grilled Chipotle Steak Salad with Crispy Tortilla Chips

I went out for dinner with Hurley one night and we ordered an appetizer which happened to be on special that evening. It was a small salad that consisted of tortilla chips,corn, red peppers, and Cajun chicken. It was also served with a creamy ranch-like dressing. I was inspired to make my own version of this salad by adding a few more ingredients. I came up with the idea of making grilled steak, then I remembered how Jason from Jason's BBQ Adventures uses all kinds of rubs for grilling and smoking meats. That's what inspired me to come up with my own dry rub recipe. Not only did the steak came out flavorful and juicy, but also the spices from the rub gave it a nice kick! I toasted some tortillas and made my own version of a southwest ranch dressing. Ok, so I cheated a little and took a short cut by using the ranch dressing I already had on hand. I just added some spices to the dressing and made it more southwestern. The salad was so delicious and the flavors from the steak blended in so well with the mixed greens, corn, and tomatoes. The tortillas gave it a crunch factor that made the entire salad complete!

Grilled Chipotle Steak Salad with Crispy Tortilla Chips

Chipotle Steak 1 package of Flank Steak1/2 tsp paprika1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepperusing a small mixing bowl, prepare the rub by adding into the bowl the paprika, chipotle chili powder, cayenne pepper, cumin, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. You can easily mix the spices together by using a spoon. It should look like this:
Pour half of the rub on one side of the steak and rub the spices into the meat
and do the same for the other side. Make sure that the steak is well is coated with the rub:
Leave in the fridge for about 2 hours before grilling. Before grilling, make sure you spray the grilling pan with some olive oil. If you do not have a cooking spray, you can always pour a little bit of olive oil onto the pan and use a paper towel to spread the oil out on the pan.

Let the grilling pan get hot over medium high heat, that way you can get some nice char marks on the steak. Cook each side of the steak for about 4-5 minutes as this will help retain the juiciness of the steak along with the flavors.

Remove from the grill and set aside to cool down for a few minutes before slicing. Once the steak has cooled down go ahead and being slicing.
The steak strips should be about 1/4th of inch thick.


Tortilla Chips 3 Soft Tortillas
Pre-heat the oven at 400 degrees. Cut the tortillas into quarters:
and then slice in between the quarters to form wedges:
place on baking sheet and bake until crisp which should take about 5 minutes:
Remove from the oven and put the tortilla chips in a bowl for cooling:
Here's an easy salad dressing recipe, the dressing part is already done since I already had ranch dressing on hand.

Southwest Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup Light/Low Fat Ranch dressing
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp peppercorn medley by McCormick
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp trappey's hot sauce or your favorite hot sauce
1 tbsp of fresh cilantro minced

In a small mixing bowl, add the cayenne pepper,cumin, paprika, freshly ground peppercorn, garlic powder, and hot sauce:
Then pour in the ranch dressing along with the cilantro. Stir in together: until all of the spices are blended into the dressing:
You may want to alter how much heat you put into the dressing because it definitely has a kick to it!


Salad Ingredients 6 cups mixed greens salad3/4 cup frozen corn3 tomatoes chopped and cubedQuickly heat up the frozen corn in a small sauce pan, make sure to add some butter or olive oil to prevent sticking. The corn cooks up quickly within in 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, add the mixed greens, tomatoes,corn and steak slices:
Then toss until all of the ingredients are thoroughly mixed into the salad. Serve with the southwest ranch dressing and make sure to drizzle it over the salad! Watch out, it's spicy!