Did I ever tell you about the time I gave up red meat? I was actually super strict about it for a couple of years. When I first started losing weight, it was one of those easy swaps that was easy to make, and for the most part, I still stick to lean poultry and fish, but I’m not so sure red meat deserves the bad rep it seems to get.
I had never even eaten skirt steak (to my knowledge), but we went out a couple of weeks ago for my step-dad’s birthday, and I ordered this salad with skirt steak and avocado. It had other things, but I can’t even tell you what they were. For me, it was all about the skirt steak and avocado.
It was so bold and flavorful that I immediately became obsessed with the idea of recreating my own at home. I’d also been dying to try a fruit salsa. A lot of people make them with strawberries, but I hate strawberries almost as much as I hate pineapple. I know, I’m so weird about the fruits I hate.
Anyway, I have a pretty serious blackberry obsession. Specifically blackberry jam on wheat toast with an egg white omelet whenever I go out to breakfast. Something about that perfect combination…I crave it. As soon as I sit down, I check to see if blackberry is in that little stack of jams. I’ve also recently put it in pancakes, muffins, and now….salsa. Weird, right?
If by weird you mean DELICIOUS, then yes. It’s totally weird. This is one of those instances where the flavors just magically work together. You can’t really explain it, it just works.
It was really easy to make. The longest part is marinating the steaks, but you just need to do it. You can totally do it in the morning before work, or even begin the night before, but the steak and the marinade need to become BFFs for at least an hour, preferably more. Give them time to fall deeply in love, which if you saw Les Mis, you will know it can happen unconvincingly after about 90 minutes of far more interesting exposition.
So, moral of the story: marinate your meat. Longer is better. In the end, the star is going to be the blackberry avocado salsa anyway. It’s sweet, citrusy, spicy and creamy from the avocado. It’s pretty much the thing dreams are made of.
Bold marinated and grilled skirt steaks topped with a sweet and spicy blackberry avocado salsa.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs skirt steak, fat trimmed as much as possible
- 1 cup red wine
- 2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- heavy pinch each of salt and pepper
- 12 oz blackberries, chopped
- 1 medium avocado, cubed
- 1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
- handful fresh cilantro, finely chopped
- 1 lime, zest and juice
- 1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
Instructions
- Begin by making the steak marinade. In a large bowl, whisk together wine, garlic, worcestershire, vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper. Transfer with steaks to an airtight container. Make sure there is enough liquid to cover your steaks. If not, add extra red wine. Refrigerate for at least one hour or up to overnight.
- To make the salsa, gently toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Do not over mix or you will lose the chunks of avocado. Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld.
- Grill meat until desired doneness. I like mine medium and it took about 4 minutes per side. Serve topped with blackberry avocado salsa.
Notes
You may use any cut of steak (or any meat, or non meat) you like. The salsa would be great with a filet, or sea bass, or even over some cooked quinoa if you want to keep it vegetarian!
