Enter the steak salad. In just twenty minutes, you have a satisfying meal that only takes five steps to make.  Also, you may already have 75% of the ingredients in your cupboard or fridge.

Quick Steak Salad

• 1 pound flank steak
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce (or soy sauce)
• 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 fresh lemon
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Romaine lettuce (or lettuce of your choice)
• Cherry tomatoes
• Blue cheese
• Salt and pepper

1. Before you leave for work in the morning, throw a flank steak into a big Ziploc bag and make a quick marinade. Pour 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce, some minced garlic, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, a boatload of pepper, and some salt into the bag and place it in the fridge.

2. When you’re ready to make dinner, line a baking sheet with tinfoil and place the marinated steak on it. Broil 6-8 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature hits 135°. Let it rest for about five minutes when it’s done.

3. While the steak is cooking, rinse and rip up (or chop) lettuce, slice tomatoes in half length-wise, and set aside.

4. Make a dressing with 1/2 olive oil, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard, a spritz of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon honey, and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Assemble your salad. Throw the lettuce in a bowl, distribute the tomatoes, and sprinkle with a bit of crumbly blue cheese. Slice the steak into thin strips and place on top of the vegetables and cheese. Drizzle with dressing. Done.

2010 Resolution Review:
1. Continue to increase creative output, and if enough suitable work is ready, submit to at least two publications per month. Writing-wise, I kept this up for the first few months of 2010. I wrote a bit more, submitted to a few journals (nothing published), but I lost momentum as projects at work bled into my evening hours. Art-wise, I took a watercolor class and produced about eight paintings. Overall, not a total success.
2. Maintain a daily journal. Also kept a journal up for a little while in 2010, but ultimately stopped.
3. Increase the balance in my savings account. Well, I do have a savings account, but those funds are wedding-only.
4. Take care of myself, both physically and mentally. This means regular check-ups at the doctor and maintaining a healthy work/life balance. I now have a primary care physician and dentist. I also had my wisdom teeth removed after years of putting it off. The health work/life balance was lost mid-year, but has recently been regained.
5. Attend more cultural events in New York. Overall, this was a success. The average was probably 2-3 events or excursions per month. (The Spider-Man musical counts, right?)
6. Go on a culinary adventure at least once a month. Not accomplished. There were adventures, but not on a monthly basis.
7. Cook dinner or have leftovers four days a week. Related: Bring lunch to work four days a week. I met the cooking requirement almost every week, but rarely brought my lunch to work. Lunch usually consisted of a cheap salads from the glorified bodega by the office, and on stressful days (see: most of last year), a box of junior mints.
8. Post here at least twice a week, ideally three times a week. Oh, definitely not.
9. Redesign my personal website. Done.
10. Go on weekend adventures. Montreal? Jersey? Boston? Anything’s game. Accomplished. A few weekend adventures included trips to Thomas Edison’s house, Teddy Roosevelt’s house, apple picking, the Jersey Shore, and more.

Resolutions for 2011
1. Finish planning the wedding and maintain my sanity.
2. Stick to a strict budget to save for aforementioned wedding. No credit card debt.
3. Related to three: Cook four nights a week. Bring lunch at least four days a week. (This starts next week with the arrival of my ridiculous bento-style lunchbox from Amazon. I may have also purchased a backup set of red inserts with my Christmas gift cads, because god forbid I carry/wear/eat out of anything that isn’t red and/or black.)
4. Post on Apartment Dining at least twice a week.
5. Read fifty books. I’ll be tracking my progress on GoodReads. (This one is inspired by my friend Alison’s quest to read 100 books in 2011. Check out her list of favorite books from 2010.)
6. Learn how to draw.
7. As finances allow, attend more cultural events in New York.
8. Document more. The next year is going to be fun, stressful, crazed, and momentous.
9. Maintain a work/life balance. Work in the evenings when it’s needed, but devote more time to creative pursuits.