A colorful salad

When I was home in Florida for the wedding, I spent two nights at my parents house before we moved down to the beach. On our last night at home, I made this salad for my family. It was inspired by a salad I recently had at Murphy's.

The best part is the carmelized red onions. The red onions don't have as high of a sugar content compared to other onions, so their caramelization is less dramatic. They mellow as they carmelize, but they can still stand up to the grilled flank steak. An excellent variation would be cornmeal battering and lightly frying the red onions instead of carmelizing them.

I blanched the green beans in salted boiling water--I would've rather used the skinny haricots verts, but Super Wal-Mart didn't have them.

Also-this salad varies depending on the quality of the blue cheese you use. A less-healthy version would've used the blue cheese in the dressing--an easily homemade concoction of mayonnaise, sour cream, and a big block of blue. I used a simple french vinaigrette--2 parts olive oil, one part dijon mustard, and one part balsamic with salt and pepper.

I marinated the steak in just a little bit of garlic, balsamic and olive oil, freshly cracked pepper, and salt. This salad is beautifully served on a large platter--I brought my mom this one from Paris 5 years ago.

So, hurry up and use your grill before it'll be too cold for you to feel your hands. Grill up a large piece of flank steak, and the rest comes together in moments.

Enjoy!