Strawberry Balsamic Steak by Green Chef

My overall impression of the

Strawberry Balsamic Steak with sauteed squash, kale salad, and lemon goat cheese 

recipe by Green Chef can be summarized in one word.

Lackluster.

I had high hopes for this recipe as it has been very hot here in Massachusetts and I have been craving fresh, bright, and colorful foods as of late.

I chose this recipe because we do not consume red meat regularly in our home and eating the occasional steak or burger ends up feeling like a treat.

I must preface this review by saying that my biggest critiques of this recipe may or may not be related to my cooking abilities.

Critiques:

1) The freshness of the strawberries was just non-existent from day one.

When I received the strawberries they were bruised already. I foresaw this being an issue from the get-go and made sure that I had frozen strawberries on hand.  When I went to make this recipe a few days later the strawberries looked like this:

I ended up utilizing flash frozen strawberries which I thawed out and used in lieu of fresh ones. They did not hold up as well as the recipe's photo but, the taste was still phenominal.

I really enjoyed the taste of the strawberry thyme-balsamic reduction sauce. It was one of my favorite flavors next to the crumbled lemon goat cheese.

Without the strawberry thyme-balsamic reduction sauce I fear this recipe would be entirely a dud in my book.

2) Blandness.

I followed the directions utilizing salt and pepper as directed but, I feel that there was too much salt and the pepper really did not provide enough flavor to the steak.

The steak was palatable in the end when combined with the strawberry thyme-balsamic glaze.  I feel that still was not enough flavor.  A herb butter in addition to the balsamic glaze would have kicked the flavor up a notch.

The summer squash and zucchini was also not very good. I felt that it was too onion and garlic flavored.

Mind you I adore garlic and onion and use it in a majority of dishes I make.

I feel this time there was too much onion and too much garlic for the recipe and it overwhelmed the light flavor of the summer squash and zucchini.

3) Brown...so much brown!

The final plated dish did not reflect the beautiful, light, bright and fresh looking colors on the recipe card.

This is where my skills in cooking are likely called into question.

The recipe calls for the steak to be seared in a pan and after searing for 3-4 minutes add the zucchini and summer squash (along with kale stems, onion and finally garlic added at the end) to the pan the steaks are currently searing in and saute.

The end result was the sucs (brown bits at the bottom of the pan from searing the meat) discolored the summer squash and zucchini leaving it with an unappealing brown coloration.

The strawberries also lacked coloration but that was due to the need for me to use thawed out flash frozen strawberries which darkened in color after the thawing process.

4) Kale "salad".  

In my honest opinion this is by definition a salad but, c'mon. It's not really a salad. It is chopped up and massaged kale, red onions, crumbled lemon goat cheese, and dressing (olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice).   

Honestly, it really lacked flavor. REALLY REALLY lacked flavor. I know that kale is a superfood and I should love it but, I did not. 

I've only ever tried a kale chip before so this was my first time consuming fresh kale.  

I was so excited to try it since over the years I have heard so many positive things about this superfood. The color and texture of these fresh greens are so tantalizing.

In the end I did not like the kale, maybe I didn't "massage" the kale enough? 

I felt that the kale was on the tough side and lacked the crispness and certain, "oomph" spinach and lettuce give a traditional salad I would normally make.

In the end I would say the kale "salad" was a big disappointment. I would have liked to have seen more vegetables in the salad besides kale and onion.  

I also feel that the salad tasted primarily of lemon and goat cheese.  

The goat cheese mixed with lemon rind was amazing I must admit and I will likely incorporate that combination into future salad dishes that I make. 

All in all I will not be making this dish again.  If I do, I will be transforming it almost entirely into my own creation.

This is the first meal I simply did not finish as it was not worth finishing due to lackluster flavor (note above photo- this is the amount I ended up tossing).

I picked out the bits of crumbled goat cheese and ate it along with each bite of the balsamic glazed steak.

The rest of the dish really wasn't palatable to me texturally and visually combined with the lack of flavor.