My apartment is officially a sweat shop.

A freezing sweat shop, because I don’t want to pay for heat. But there is back-breaking work going on in there for sure.

One of my co-workers (whom I adore) commissioned me to make three quilts- one for each of her daughters- for Christmas. Her husband passed away in March, and she gave me bags and bags of his clothing to make a quilt for each of them. I am so happy to do it for her, but I got the materials about 10 days ago which means less than 3 weeks to bang out 3 quilts. That’s a big job. I’ll show you pictures when they’re all finished!

I’ve been spending all waking hours after work sewing, and I know I’ll have it done in time but I haven’t left myself much wiggle room for creative cooking. Last week I ate eggs for dinner 5 days in a row.

This weekend the GS visited and we went to Trata for dinner. I’ve been there twice before and love it- the food is good and it’s a really cool atmosphere. This time I ordered a steak salad and loved it so much that I decided to do a copycat version at home.

Steak Salad

(makes about 2 LARGE salads, 3 Erin-sized salads)

1 strip steak (or whatever is cheapest at your grocery store!)

4-5 cups arugula or mixed greens

1 onion

roasted red peppers, from a jar or make your own

6-7 asparagus spears

goat cheese

juice of one lemon

olive oil

2-3 cloves garlic

salt & pepper

First I seasoned the steak. I just used the McCormick Spicy Montreal Steak blend because I had it and was in a time crunch, but you could also try this. Or just the old standby of Italian dressing. Sear on both sides on a skillet, or grill it if you’re a lucky duck, until desired doneness. I like it medium rare. Let the steak rest for several minutes before slicing.

Caramelize your onions like this. Remove the woody ends of the asparagus and give it a rough chop- we want reasonable bite sized pieces- add to the onions. Chop your roasted reds and throw those in there too.

Mix up your dressing. I essentially made this dressing, but you can use whatever you have on hand. I like the zing of the lemon with this combination, though.

Assemble the salad! Greens, topped with some heavenly cooked vegetables, topped with sliced steak, crumbled goat cheese, and a little drizzle of dressing.

My couch and chair are both covered in fabric so I parked myself right on the floor and scarfed this down. This is what high class dining looks like when you live alone.

I know it looks like a high maintenance salad but it was pretty quick. This is what you should serve people if you’re having a dinner party over the holidays and you want to seem impressive but not serve something super decadent because maybe you have to squeeze into a bridesmaid dress two days after Christmas.

Oh, that’s just me? Okay. Well cheers to eating healthy anyway.