Beef and Noodle Salad

. October, 2015
Photography by Manja Wachsmuth.
Beef and Noodle Salad

Penny Oliver's new book Simple Salads is packed with dozens of tasty ideas for fresh, filling salads, making it a great little book to have on hand as the weather warms up.

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

600 grams rump steak
200 grams dried vermicelli rice noodles
100 grams snow peas, blanched
½ telegraph cucumber, peeled and cut into 3cm pieces
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup each mint and Thai basil leaves
1 long red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
Asian Dressing (see below)
¼ cup roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped
1 tablespoon store-bought Asian fried onions


Asian Dressing 
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 cloves garlic, finely grated
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Ground black pepper

After cooking and styling 10 recipes a day for my cookbooks, I rarely have an appetite. This tempting and restorative salad is the exception. I could eat it anytime.

METHOD

Grill the rump steak to your liking (I prefer it rare) and allow it to cool.

Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions and drain well.

Slice the blanched snow peas lengthwise and place in a bowl. Add the cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, noodles, and three-quarters of the mint, basil leaves and chilli. Spoon in half the dressing and toss together.

Spoon half the salad into a serving dish. Thinly slice the beef and layer it on top. Spoon over the remaining salad and top with the remaining herb leaves and chilli. Scatter over the peanuts and fried onions. Drizzle over the remaining dressing and serve immediately.


Asian Dressing
Shake all the ingredients together in a sealed jar to combine.