Saturday dinner - steak sandwiches

We had steak sandwiches for dinner last night, and boy were they good!  It's becoming one of our favorite Saturday dinners, because they're are reasonably quick, but also seem special and are delicious.  Basically we just get all the components together and everyone can assemble whatever they want.  Usually we include: fresh homemade bread, grilled steak, bleu or brie cheese, caramelized onions, and wilted arugula.  mmm, mmm, yummm...!  And a glass of wine to finish it off.

I'm becoming a big fan of putting dry arugula or spinach in a bowl in the microwave for a min or two.  It just wilts the greens, rather than really cooking them down, so the texture is better.  Plus, they don't get as watery.  I especially like this method for prepping greens for sandwiches.

Caramelized onions - I finally figured out the secret to perfect silky cooked onions: salt!  Put a bit of oil  (you shouldn't need more than a couple tablespoons for several onions) in your pan, then add thinly sliced onions.  Sprinkle some salt over top, stir, cover, and turn the burner on to medium low/low (I use a heat of 3-4 out of 9).  Stir occasionally.  The salt draws water out of the onions as they cook, preventing them from burning.  Keep the lid on when you're not stirring to keep that moisture in the pan.  Keep cooking until the onions are how you like them - you can get them completely translucent and sweet if you don't rush it.  If you're ever in doubt, turn the heat down.  Patience!  It can take 20-30 min to do it right.  If you like a little brown, just turn up the heat at the end and/or take the lid off.  I think these make a great, healthy addition to a sandwich.  An onion has similar nutrition as an apple, right?  And these are silky enough that there's no need for mayo or anything like that.  Will doesn't like onions, but if I'm holding back a little to be polite, Aleks and I will easily finish off 3 large onions worth of caramelized onions in a dinner.