Classic Grilled Steak

Summer is coming to an end as our warm weather days slowly start to fade away and the kids are back in school.  However, despite cooler evenings, we are sure to take advantage of being able to grill out late into fall.  Here in the Upstate New York region, winters are long – so if it is nice outside, we are outside, soaking up any comfortable weather!

One of our favorite classic foods to cook on the grill is steak.  A simple steak can be so versatile, especially when you prepare it for a bunch of people and when you have leftovers too.  This is an easy way to prepare steak so that you can serve it in a variety of ways.

We have been preparing steak like this for as long as we can remember.  With minimal seasoning, you preserve the flavor of the steak.  Then you can really enjoy the true taste of the steak, and enjoy it wide range of ways.  When you are trying to please a crowd, this can make life a lot easier!

Ingredients

~ Steak
~ Oil
~ Salt

Preparation

Start by gathering your ingredients.  We bought our steak from Walmart, and you don’t need much else!  Simply coat your steak with salt and oil.  When we are preparing food for a hungry crowd, easy preparation is a must!

For this cookout, we used Kingsford Mesquite charcoal briquettes.  Not only does this product impart a nice, smoky mesquite flavor on the meat, but it smells amazing just cooking out with these!  This is the kind of aroma that makes your mouth water and inspires us to grill when we smell someone else cooking out!

You want to get your BBQ grill as hot as possible before placing the meat on the grill.  Make sure your briquettes are fully heated before placing your meat on the grill – you want them covered with a lot of ash and to also have a slight red glow.

Cook the steak so that you get grill marks on both sides, but you also want to remove the steak while it is still a little rare.

Then allow the steak to sit for about 5-10 minutes, as the remaining heat will continue to cook the steak.

Not only do you end up with a beautiful steak, but it will be cooked perfectly and also reabsorbs the juices.

There are so many uses for steak when you cook it like this with minimal seasoning.  For one, you can eat it alongside lots of other grilled foods, like corn and potatoes.

In the summer, we like steak on salads, which is the best of both worlds – fresh steak off the grill with salad fresh from the garden!

There are so many possibilities with steak on salad as well.  Break out some blue cheese, use some spicy arugula, or stick with a more classic salad like this one, with fresh romaine, cherry tomatoes, pepperoncini peppers and parmesan cheese.

This steak also makes for amazing loaded nachos!  Simply load up a cookie sheet with chips and cheese, and top with steak and whatever other toppings you like (black olives, jalapenos, and so on).

These are so easy to make and bake quickly in the oven.

If you have some leftover steak or you aren’t quite ready to serve your steak entree, nachos are a great appetizer to serve while people are hungry.  A great way to keep guests occupied especially if you are running between the kitchen and the grill.  And a great snack to serve if you have guests watching a game or hovering while you cook!

So cook up some steak… and make sure you make enough for leftovers!  As a busy family, leftovers are so important, because they save so much time and money.  The possibilities are endless – Philly cheese steaks, fajitas, beef stroganoff, steak quesadillas, steak tacos, and so much more!