Orzo Salad and the BEST steak marinade in existence

Today's post is a two-fer.  You get a great steak marinade AND a delicious side to go with it :-)

Ever since I picked my first roma tomatoes I have been dying to make this salad.  You can really only make it when tomatoes are in season, otherwise it's no good.

So, making this salad was the main motivator of this meal.  The steak was just an added bonus because it would go well with the salad.

We will start with the steak marinade.  Steak marinade is one of those things that everybody makes differently.  In my family we don't have a stand-by recipe so I'm always scrambling to find something to marinate the steaks.  The steak marinade I used is my kind of marinade.  I found it on allrecipes.com and it was titled "The Best Steak Marinade in Existence."  63,000 people concurred by giving it 5 stars.  You can bet I jumped on that.  No guessing game here.  Clearly this one was a winner.

I cut the recipe in half because I was only marinating two steaks.  This could probably even marinate four steaks.

Best Steak Marinade in Existence
Makes 4 servings
Start to finish: 8-9 hours

3 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp garlic powder
1.5 Tbsp dried basil
2 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp pepper
Dash of cayenne pepper
1 clove minced garlic

I poured this into a plastic ziploc bag with the steaks and removed all the air before leaving it in the fridge for 8 hours.  I did this before work.  After work, I took the steaks out of the marinade so they could come to room temperature before grilling.

Now onto the good stuff (just kidding...sort of).  I originally got this idea from 30 Minute Meals, though when I went to make it I didn't follow the recipe at all.  This is super easy and delicious, my kind of weeknight meal.

Orzo Salad

Makes 4 servings

Start to finish: 20 minutes

4 oz/112g/1 cup of orzo pasta
1 large Roma tomato or 2 small ones
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp Feta Cheese (I used reduced fat)
2 Tbsp fresh parsley
1 Tbsp basil
1/8 tsp pepper
Balsamic vinegar for drizzling

If you've never had orzo before, it's pasta that looks like rice, and you cook it like pasta.

Boil the orzo until it is al dente.  While you're waiting, chop your herbs and dice your tomatoes.

This next step is very complicated so pay close attention: assemble all the ingredients sans balsamic vinegar in a bowl and toss.

 (Did you get that?  I told you it was complicated)

When you get ready to serve this alongside the best marinated steak in existence, drizzle a few drops of balsamic vinegar on top.  It totally makes the dish, trust me.  You can refrigerate this if you want, but I think it tastes best at room temperature.  Don't forget what I said about refrigerating tomatoes.

While you're making your salad, hopefully someone is grilling the best marinated steaks in existence.  I have to say, my husband could not have grilled them more perfectly, but I have to wonder if the amazingness couldn't be mostly attributed to this marinade.

Decide for yourself and let me know your verdict!  Will you be one of the 63,000 people who have labeled this the best marinade in existence?  At minimum, will you be one of the select few to have tried my amazing orzo salad?