30 Meals in 30 Days: "Ranchified" Steak & Avocado Salad

I found today's recipe in a Chatelaine magazine advertisement for Hidden Valley Ranch. And no, this post is not sponsored by Chatelaine or Hidden Valley.

I'm a 6-days-a-week vegetarian. That leaves The Caterpillar & I with one day a week to eat a little meat to get quick-absorbing protein. So tonight we had steak on ranch & avocado salad, while John enjoyed some Tofurkey sausage instead.

The original recipe called for an insane amount of ranch dressing (two cups - can't you tell it was a sponsored recipe?) so I was like "nah, that's gross" and reduced the ranch dressing quantity by a lot. Actually, I reduced their original recipe by half. My goal is to learn new recipes, not to gain weight.

Here's how to make it.

In advance, puree 1 avocado with 1 cup of ranch dressing (homemade is best if possible), the zest & juice of 1 lime, and a sprinkle of fresh pepper. Divide the sauce in half, and marinate your meat in one half while setting the other half aside. Marinate for 1 hour. Unless you're like me, and then in that case do it for 20 minutes.

Cook the steak.

While the steak is cooking, prepare lettuce, cherry tomatoes, pieces of corn, and 1 chopped avocado in a salad.

Add the steak or tofu on top.

Drizzle with remaining sauce (that's your new dressing) - or go low-fat by opting for olive oil & lemon juice.

Here's what it really looks like.

Here's how we're rate it.

Taste value: 7/10. It's salad and steak or tofu - what really adds to it is the lime. Loved that!
Simplicity value: 8/10. Really simple.
Appearance value: 10/10. Very vibrant and colourful, and super appetizing to dig into!
Entertainment value: 9/10. The super-high-fat sauce (which relies heavily on ranch dressing) might scare off some health-nut friends, but with the option to dress it up however you like (easily personalized), I'd say it'd be an easy meal to have with guests.
Coolness value: 4/10. If the ranch dressing were homemade, it'd be a little cooler. There's a goal!

Oh, and while we're taking a look at pictures: while I was working my darndest to make this super simple salad, check out what my husband was cooking up. Yes, that would be goat cheese, carmelized onions & pear on foccacia bread. Showoff.