Would you eat salad with your fingers?
Nibbles & Bites Issue #7: No forks required.
Endive and Romaine Heart Salad with Seared Steak, Radishes and a Smoked Chili Dill-Sour Cream Dressing
I think I have entered my salad era, whatever that means. I blame my rekindled desire to eat crispy, fresh vegetables on the slightly warmer weather and refreshing spring air. For those of you who don’t celebrate, we’re entering tulip and daffodil season, but I’ll save my excitement for another newsletter. Salads can take infinite forms, and they’re practical and one can easily take a mix-and-match approach to making one. Endive can be swapped for radicchio or romaine, oranges for berries, dill for parsley - whatever you're making doesn't have to be complicated, but will still turn out delicious.
That being said, I do have one rule about salads. Dressings MUST be homemade and cannot come out of a jar, where they’re likely packed with sugars, emulsifiers, and citric acid and more often than not just taste artificial.
Delicious salad dressings can be made with simple pantry essentials (greek yogurt, sour cream, tahini, mustard, mayo, etc.) as the backbone, and just need a little dash of vinegar, some fresh herbs, and depending on the direction, a little sweetness or spice to balance everything out. It’s a simple equation. Taste, adjust and I’m certain that you’ll get it right.
This week I’ve been working on a simple steak salad that is both light and crisp, but also hearty and satisfying. It’s not a side salad, it’s the main event. This salad is unique in that it’s interactive. The endive spears remain largely intact and can act as little scoops. The individual romaine lettuce cups allow you to forgo utensils altogether. In polite company this should probably be a knife and fork salad, but as long as no one is watching, I encourage you to channel your inner child and the joy that is eating your food with your hands.
To make this salad even more weekday friendly, I recommend preparing a few things in advance so that you can pull it all together when it is time to eat. I would sear off the steaks beforehand, and keep them cool in your fridge until you’re ready. The smoky dill-sour cream dressing can also be whipped together in advance so everything is prepared when the urge to eat strikes.
Romaine Salad with Seared Steak, Radishes and a Smoked Dill-Sour Cream Dressing
Ingredients:
1 head of romaine lettuce, outer leaves removed
2 heads of endive
4 small breakfast radishes, trimmed
3 tbsp chopped fresh dill
¼ cup sour cream
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp smoked crushed red pepper flakes*
8 oz flank or tenderloin steak
*crushed red pepper flakes and a pinch of smoked paprika will make an excellent substitution if you don’t have crushed red pepper flakes that are already smoked
Instructions
Wash all of the produce and arrange on a kitchen towel to dry. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, lemon juice, and all but one tablespoon of the chopped dill, 1-2 tablespoons of water and smoked red pepper flakes. Add a pinch of salt and a generous amount of cracked pepper. Halve and thinly slice the radishes. Cut the root end off of the romaine and endive and separate the leaves. Trim them so they’re roughly the same length.
Place a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Place the steaks on a plate or plastic cutting board and pat dry with a pepper towel. Season with salt and pepper. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and allow to heat. Cook the steaks for about 4 to 5 minutes per side depending on the thickness of the steak. Once cooked, remove the steaks from the heat and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes. At this point, the steaks can be refrigerated for a few days. Once ready to serve, thinly slice the steaks against the grain.
Arrange the lettuces on a serving platter, lightly tear a few leaves here and there and allow others to remain largely intact. Arrange the steak slices and radishes on the plate. Dollop the dressing across the salad allowing it to pool in places. Sprinkle the salad with the remaining tablespoon of dill, a pinch of crushed red pepper flakes and a generous crack of fresh black pepper.