Have your steak and eat it, too.

We’re steak lovers around these parts (and by these parts, I mean me & the hubs). But you know what they say about red meat – that’s it’s not very good for you & shouldn’t be consumed often. My compromise is to make a big steak salad like the one you see above, where the steak is definitely present but we’re still getting lots of vibrant colored veggies along with it. This way, you can have your steak and not stress about eating it!

The pesto really is the star of the show, however. This is my {current} favorite pesto recipe. I love making any type of pesto, really, since they only take a minute and go with just about anything you can think of. This version isn’t spicy at all; removing the seeds from the peppers also removes the heat and leaves just the jalapeno flavor behind. Here are a few ideas for other ways to use it:

• As a sauce for fish or chicken
• On crostini with ricotta cheese
• In a mexican version of lasagna
• Toss with spaghetti and top with crumbled queso fresco
• Mix it into meatloaf
• Have it with eggs for breakfast
• Add it to a grilled cheese
• Toss with potatoes after roasting
• Slather onto corn on the cob

And I obviously like using it as a salad dressing, too. The hubs mixes a bit of ranch in his {shudder} but I like it straight up. As salad dressings go, it’s not a strong flavor, and I like that it doesn’t overpower the flavor of the actual salad ingredients. Keep this in mind the first time you try it in case you prefer a stronger flavored dressing, too.