Warm Spinach & Elk Salad

1. Salt and pepper each side of the elk steak and grill it (or broil) over medium heat until medium rare (or JUST as soon as it hits medium). Depending on your cooking method, this could take 5-15 minutes. Remove steak from the grill, loosely cover with foil and set aside to rest.

2. Put your pine nuts in a large saute pan and toast on medium heat for about 5 minutes total. Shake the pan at about the 2.5 minute mark so they toast evenly.

3. While the nuts are toasting, chop onion into bite size pieces.

4. Remove nuts from pan onto a paper towel. Set aside.

5. Put the olive oil in the pan, raise heat to medium-high and saute onions until tender.

6. Add corn and then add the spinach. Let spinach wilt slightly, then start turning it in the pan to coat it lightly with the olive oil and mix it with the onions. (If you prefer, you can heat onions and corn and set those aside then wilt spinach separately.) Once spinach is lightly wilted (you still want a little body to the spinach), turn off heat and remove pan from heat.

7. Slice your elk steak into strips for your salad.

8. Build your plate: lay down spinach mixture (if you kept them separate, now add the onions and corn), add dried cranberries and toasted pine nuts. Then layer steak on top. The amount of each ingredient you use is completely up to you but I like the spinach and elk to be the stars.

If you wish, add a parmesan vinaigrette or Italian style dressing. (No recipe for those, I just used jar stuff.)