If you’ve never been to Pittsburgh, you’ve probably never had a Pittsburgh Salad—a traditional steak salad…topped with French fries! Pittsburghers love finding ways to include fries in just about everything. It may not be healthy, but it’s damn delicious. While my father finds the addition of fries to a salad to be revolting, my husband loves it. If I make a steak salad for dinner in our house, it sure as hell better have fries on it. But I don’t always want the grease or the calorie splurge that comes with fried food, so I made some tweaks to cut the calories, while keeping the various flavors and textures.
The biggest change is obviously the fries. Rather than frying potatoes in oil, I roast them in the oven. You still get the crunchy exterior and fluffy interior, but with far less oil. Additionally, I like to serve this salad with a Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette instead of using the traditional ranch or blue cheese dressings.
This Salad is great with any kind of thinly sliced grilled steak, but I really like it with Guy Fieri’s recipe for Bloody Mary Flank Steak. I will include the link to this recipe, if you’d like to try it. It’s great on its own, with a side of sautéed zucchini and a baked potato, and it makes excellent leftovers.
This is my husband-approved Healthier Pittsburgh Salad.
Dressing:
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
Place all ingredients in a mason jar. Close the lid tightly and shake to combine.
Salad Base:
6 cups loosely packed butterhead or iceberg lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup carrots, julienned
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup crumble Gorgonzola cheese
1. Combine the lettuce, mushrooms, carrots, tomatoes, and Gorgonzola cheese in a large non-reactive bowl. Just before serving, drizzle the salad dressing over the salad base a little at a time, tossing it to coat the ingredients. Taste the salad base before each addition of dressing to make sure you’re not adding too much.
2. Divide the salad base equally onto serving plates. Top the salad mixture with thinly sliced steak, then with a healthy serving of oven fries. Serve immediately.
Serves 2-3
Miss Teense Cooks 