Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Grilled Beef, Jicama and Apple Salad

Tonight I made a recipe out of Ellie Krieger's cookbook So Easy. I made a couple of changes due to availability and stuff that I had on hand. Here's my version.

Ingredients

1.5 lbs of beef steak (choose cut according to your budget)
Salt & Pepper

1/4 cup [lime]lemon juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 TBSP sugar

1 large jicama (~1.5lbs)
3 Granny Smith Apples
[1/2 cup cilantro leaves]
[2 tsp lime zest]
[1 medium jalapeno, seeded and chopped finely]
3 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts.

1. Season the steak, grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side shooting for medium-rare, or until cooked for your family's preferences. Let rest while you do the rest.
2. In a medium bowl, mix the lime juice, vinegar and sugar together.
3. In a food processor, shred the jicama and apples. Add the shredded jicama and apples to the juice-vinegar mixture. Add the cilantro, jalapeno and zest, and mix all.
4. Slice the steak across the grain into thin 1/4" slices.
5. Mound about 1 1/2 cups of salad on plate, top with 1/4 of the steak, garnish with some cilantro leaves and peanuts.


****What I did differently. The ingredients in [] I didn't have. So I didn't use them. What I did have was lemon juice. I also chopped up 1/2 a large red onion, sauteed that lightly, chopped some green olives and artichoke hearts and layered those over the beef.

****What went wrong. I asked the kids to get out the food processor and the shredder plate. What I didn't check was how they had it set up. So, the jicama ended up more as pulp, as the knife was in the bottom, and the shredder plate was slice side up. My fault, I should have checked it.

****Next time? Shred, not pulp the jicama. This really did need the color of the red onion to be more attractive on the plate. I think that whatever other colorful veggies you have on hand would be great. Carrots, thinly sliced bell peppers, cherry tomatoes. I used the olives and artichoke hearts as a salty counterpoint to the acid and sweetness of the jicama and apples.