Vegetarian food at a steakhouse? I know it sounds like an oxymoron. But these days everyone is veg-crazy, and even steakhouses have to keep up with the trends. BLT Steak has introduced a new vegetarian blackboard menu that will change with the season, and has also added several vegetarian staples to the menu. I went over and sampled as many as I could to test if it’s possible for a vegetarian to eat well at a steakhouse.
The restaurant features several salads on the menu, so I would definitely kick off with one of those. We all know I love a good burrata, and the one at BLT is awesome. A fluffy pillow of burrata is encircled by gorgeous sweet cherry tomatoes. A simple olive oil vinaigrette and a few springs of basil make it a salad for champions. The beet salad is also a great starter; walnuts, apple, roasted beets, microgreens and gorgonzola make a hearty combination.
From the vegetarian blackboard menu, get the kabocha squash risotto. The risotto is cooked in a saffron infused broth, and served over a fragrant kabocha squash puree. Pumpkin seeds add a bit of crunch. This was easily my favorite dish of the day. Another item we tried from the blackboard menu was a cabbage steak with a buttermilk dressing. It was a lot of cabbage. You better like really cabbage if you’re going to order it. The side dish, spaghetti squash, is a crunchy and fresh, but you may not have room for it with all the other food.
And then dessert. I never skip dessert (although I sometimes I regret that decision). The desserts at BLT are classic American, and of course veg friendly so I went to town. Donuts served with a chocolate dipping sauce are fluffy and light, and a dense chocolate is dark and heady.
As it turns out, vegetarians can do pretty well at BLT steak, and its pretty refreshing that the restaurant isn’t relying on the typical portobello sandwich (cue to all vegetarians in the world rolling their eyes and nodding). It’s awesome that the menu will change with the seasons, so if you go back you won’t get stuck eating the same thing over and over. It’s also great that there are multiple vegetarian options; there is nothing worse than dining out and being forced to order the one and only vegetarian item on the menu (cue to all vegetarians in the world rolling their eyes and nodding).  Hats off to BLT. If you want to stay relevant, you need to keep up with trends. It is the year of vegetables.
