Sesame-ginger steak and noodle salad: An easy summer supper

I have talked before about my love of salads, and chef in training’s position that a salad is not dinner. But he may have to change his tune after the latest Chatelaine recipe to grace our table: Sesame-ginger steak and noodle salad.

This salad is most certainly a meal. With steak, baby spinach, rice vermicelli noodles and a savoury, Asian-style vinaigrette, this salad is both tasty and filling. It’s also a snap to throw together and perfect for hot summer nights where slaving over the stove is decidedly crazy.

The recipe calls for two striploin steaks to be cooked in a frying pan, but I broiled the steaks in the oven instead. You could also easily grill the meat, which I think we’ll try next time. While the meat broiled I put the noodles in a bowl of very hot water (stirring every few minutes) and made the dressing. The dressing is a mix of rice vinegar, sesame oil, freshly minced garlic and ginger, salt, pepper, sugar, and fish sauce all whisked together. If you’ve never cooked with fish sauce, and don’t like fish, don’t worry: the small amount in this recipe really doesn’t create a fishy taste. I promise.

Once the noodles were tender (about 10 minutes) and the steak was broiled to medium-well (our preference), I grated a carrot into the baby spinach and then added the noodles. The dressing is then poured over the noodles and veggies and tossed until it’s combined. After dishing up the dressed noodle salad, you top it with the steak slices and dinner is served.

The dressing was fresh and flavourful with the garlic, ginger, vinegar and dark sesame oil. And the combination of greens, noodle, and meat suited both the salad-lover in me and the carb-loving carnivore in chef-in-training. Now I just need to work on the mini, who like her dad, thinks salad is best suited to bunny rabbits…

Try this recipe: Sesame-ginger steak and noodle salad