Recipe: Early Summer Steak Salad

Today on Good Food, Laura Avery talks to Amelia Saltsman, author of The Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook, about how to grill lean grass-fed beef. Amelia picked up a flat iron steak from Novy Ranch and made an Early Summer Steak Salad with snap peas, soft lettuces, cherry tomatoes, scallions and garlic chives. Keep reading for the full recipe….

Early Summer Steak Salad

From Amelia Saltsman, author of the Santa Monica Farmers Market Cookbook

Slices of hot steak over salad is a great concept: the juices of the meat flavor the veggies, which return the favor by adding a refreshing counterpoint to the richness of the beef. Plus, in this day of cutting our meat intake, it’s a classic way to make less go a long way. You can endlessly vary the flavor profile of this easy main course salad through the summer. Here, I’ve gone with lime, ginger, and Thai basil, and used early summer snap peas and the season’s first cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. If you like your dressing sweet-hot, add Asian chili sauce and some mashed sweet nectarine, instead of sugar, into the dressing.

1 pound steak, such as flat iron, rib eye, New York, or top sirloin

Kosher or sea salt

For salad:

¼ pound snap peas, a generous handful

1 large head soft lettuce, such as red or green butter

1 Japanese or Persian cucumber, peeled if desired and cut into 2-inch sticks

6 to 8 ounces sweet cherry tomatoes, a couple of handfuls

1 red bell pepper, or a handful of tiny sweet red peppers, cut into rings or slivers

4 scallions, cut into long slivers

A small handful of garlic chives, snipped into small pieces

Several large sprigs, Thai basil or rao ram, about 15 large leaves, torn

For dressing:

1 small clove garlic, mashed or put through garlic press

2 teaspoons finely minced fresh ginger

Juice of 1 or 2 limes (look for ripe limes—skin color will be heading towards yellow—for sweeter juice)

½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Chili sauce or Sriracha to taste, optional

½ ripe nectarine, optional

1 to 2 tablespoons mild vegetable oil, such as avocado or grapeseed

Dry the steak well and let it air-dry while you prepare the salad.

String the peas if necessary. Blanch peas in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds to deepen their color and heighten flavor. Drain, rinse, and chill with ice to stop cooking and preserve color.

Assemble the salad ingredients in a bowl. Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Five to 10 minutes before you’re ready to cook, rub the steak with a generous teaspoon or so of salt. Grill steak to desired doneness. Let the meat rest 2 to 3 minutes. Cut against the grain into thin slices. Toss salad with dressing and transfer to a platter. Lay steak over top of salad to serve.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

© 2012, Amelia Saltsman.