So on Saturday, just after proclaiming I was going to be healthy I continued to lunch on a cheesy bacony carbonara, then a mid afternoon cream tea (yummy scones baked by my mum),  a tasty gluten free pizza from Pizzarova for dinner, followed by beer and a movie… So in all a great day for eating but a complete health fail. So today I decided I had to make up for it with a healthy salad for lunch. This recipe is one we had created at work for our client make more of salad. I really liked the sound of this spicy salad with its oriental flavours and warm steak so decided to give it a go. I really enjoyed the fresh flavours in this dish. I used a bit of extra chilli to spice it up but I’ve left the extra out of this recipe as I know not everyone’s such a chilli fiend.

Hot Vietnamese Beef Salad  

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

For the dressing:

• 1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
• zest and juice of 1 lime
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp Thai fish sauce
• 1 tsp caster sugar

For the salad:

• 12 x 100 g sirloin steaks, trimmed.
• A little vegetable oil
• Sea salt
• 100g/ 4oz green beans, trimmed
• 75g/ 3oz cucumber, cut into batons
• ½ red pepper, cut into batons
• 1 carrot grated
• 1 (150g) bag Bistro style leaves (eg Red Chard, beetroot and lamb’s lettuce)
• handful coriander leaves, chopped
• 1 tbsp unsalted peanuts, chopped
  
  

Method

Put a griddle pan on the highest heat. Brush the steak on both sides with the oil, then season well with salt. Cook in the hot pan for 3 minutes on each side, turning once until the steak is cooked to your liking. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes, before slicing.

Cook the beans in boiling salted water for 3 mins or until just tender. Drain, refresh in cold water and drain again.

In a small bowl whisk together all the dressing ingredients.

Divide the salad leaves between two bowls. Top with the other vegetables and sliced steak, drizzle over the dressing and top with the peanuts and coriander.