Seared Beef Salad

I had a few leftovers from Christmas, some salad leaves that needed eating, a bit of topside in the fridge and leftover dressing, so I made this seared beef salad for lunch in order to use up what was left in the fridge and avoid the waste.

I’ve given the ingredients that we used below, but as the whole point was to use up leftovers, the idea is to build the salad on whatever you have rolling around your crisper.

I don’t really like salad, I usually choose steamed veg over salad any day, so I tend to take my salad making pretty seriously in order to gain maximum enjoyment.

Method

1. Heat a frypan to high. Smear some olive oil on both sides the steak and season with salt and pepper. Fry the steak until preferred doneness. Sit aside for a minute or two to rest.
2. Wash and dry salad leaves. Toss a little dressing through the leaves and divide between plates.
3. Top with other ingredient.
4. Finely slice steak and divide between plates.
5. Drizzle a little extra dressing over salads to taste.

Making a salad can be a real creative outlet in the kitchen. It’s about combining a variety of colourful ingredients into an artistic master piece. Below are some tips on creating a great salad.

• Consider the purpose of the salad. If it’s a side to a main meal then a few well dressed leaves might just do the trick. On the other hand, if it is the main meal, then make sure to include plenty of protein and a little fat. Protein is digested slower and means a more measured blood sugar giving you a sated feeling and keeping you full for longer. Otherwise, you’ll be starving after just an hour.
• Choose a ‘theme’ for your salad. This isn’t as formal as it sounds. It just means that unless you’re into ‘fusion’ cooking, you probably don’t want to be mixing Italian flavours like olives with Asian flavours like a lime and ginger dressing. Choose ingredients based on your purpose and theme or culinary influence.
• Consider the texture of the salad. Try for some crunch, from fresh leaves or nuts, and some smooth, as from cheese or avocado.
• Focus on one or two really good flavours and balance richness and freshness. In the salad above, the focus is on the beef and the dressing with the other ingredients complementing these two main ingredients. Balance one or more flavours such as cool, crisp and fresh, warm and comforting, sweet, salty, sour hot and zingy.
• Start with some really fresh green salad leaves and wash and dry well. The salad dressing will cling to dry leaves better than wet, and excess water will make the salad soggy, and dilute the dressing.
• As well as the usual lettuce leaves, consider adding fresh herbs like parsley or rocket for a different flavour.
• The protein component can come from meat or poultry, fish such as tinned tuna, eggs, cheese, nuts and seeds, beans and lentils.
• You could add some grains to your salad like burghul or quinoa.
• Go for a variety of colour. This will automatically ensure a variety of flavour as well as nutrients.
• Use a good quality dressing or better yet, make your own. The best kind of dressing is with olive oil, which is much healthier than vegetable oils. If you make it yourself you can ensure quality ingredients and make it to taste.
• Avoid fat free dressing. Essential fatty acids are just that: essential. Many of the vegetables that are going into your salad are full of carotenoids, which help reduce the risk of many lifestyle diseases. Fat found in a good quality dressing (olive oil), avocado, nuts cheese etc., actually enhance the absorption and bioavailability of these carotenoids.*
• Continuing with the amazing benefits of a good salad dressing, studies show that vinegar helps keep blood sugar levels and insulin low after a meal and reduces the glucose response after eating high carb, simple sugar meals (oh, and it increases satiety, helps with digestion and helps with weight loss.) Make your own dressing and you can ensure you’re eating top quality, healthy vinegar.
• Salad is a summer food. Don’t dress it in winter clothing. In other words, go light on the salad dressing, you can always add more.
• Dress your salad just before serving. Dressing the salad hours beforehand can make it soggy.

*From the Changing Habits, Changing Lives book pg129ff.

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1. Roast Pumpkin and Feta Salad
2. Honey Balsamic Salad Dressing
3. the ‘all i want to eat now is salad’ salad dressing
4. simple potato salad
5. tropical fruit salad