I basically threw everything in my fridge and pantry into this salad! Lemon, herbs, soy sauce, pepper, pesto, chilli – this had so many different flavours, and man, I loved it!
However, if you don’t have even half the ingredients, do not panic. Just use what you have – throw in any vegetables lying around, use your favourite herbs, replace the cheese with your favourite, and omit any ingredients you don’t like.
The joy of this salad is its warm, flavoursome dressing. I’m usually a pretty big hater of most dressings – I can’t bear mayonnaise, french dressing, ranch sauce, tartare sauce, or any gloopily sweet concoction out of a bottle! However, some simple homemade dressing can be acceptable. Or, in this case, fantastic!
With all my mixing of ingredients, this salad is packed with healthy fats, protein, and heaps of vitamins/ minerals! Rough and tumble dishes like this are perfect for using up any spare ingredients, and getting in a plethora of nutrients. Oh, and don’t freak about ox-heart – it is super cheap, tasty, and quick to cook.
This recipe can be gluten-free, egg-free, low-carb, and nut-free.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients:
– 350-400 grams ox-heart (or steak of choice)
– 1 Tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari)
– 2 Tablespoons olive oil
– juice and zest of 1 lemon
– black pepper
– dried oregano, marjoram, basil, chilli powder, etc. (as you like)
– 1 packet (125 grams) watercress
– 1/2 telegraph cucumber, sliced
– 1 large tomato, cubed
– 100 grams camembert cheese, sliced
– handful sprouts: alfalfa/ snow-pea shoots/ lentils/ peas/ adzuki
– 2/3 avocado, cubed
– small handful green (stuffed) olives, sliced
– 2 Tablespoons pesto (use basil paste if nut-free)
– 2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
– 2 Tablespoons water
– 1 Tablespoon soy sauce (or tamari), extra
– seeds, to sprinkle (I used a shop-bought mix: sunflower seeds, almonds, goji berries, chickpeas, etc.)
Method:
1. Place the ox-heart in a dish, and rub/ pour over the soy sauce, olive oil, lemon zest and juice, pepper, and herbs. Leave to marinate while you prepare your vegetables.
2. In a serving platter, layer the watercress, cucumber, tomato, cheese, sprouts, avocado, and olives.
3. Heat a frypan, then place in the ox-heart (with all the marinade). Let this bubble and sizzle for 2 minutes, then turn the meat and cook for a further minute. Remove to some tinfoil, wrap tightly, and let rest (on a tea towel) for 5 minutes.
4. While the meat rests, add the pesto, vinegar, water, and extra soy sauce to the same frypan. Heat until bubbling and reduced. Scoop most of this dressing into a dish. Slice the rested meat, return to the syrupy pan, and fry until it reaches your desired pinkness.
5. Top the assembled salad with the hot meat, drizzle over the reserved dressing, and sprinkle over the seeds. Enjoy! 🙂
By the way, when I say this serves 4, the portion sizes are larger than that shown above!