Salads make a great light and refreshing meal, especially in the summers. When the temperature starts going up, recipes that are quick to assemble and require little to no cooking are my favourite. We celebrate the limited number of sunny days we get in Germany by firing up the grill and salads make a perfect side to grilled meat.

Salads vary from region to region in terms of ingredients, dressings and toppings used. As much as I enjoy salads from every region, Asian salads are my favourite. The best part of an Asian salad is its fresh, tangy, strong flavoured dressing with a slight hint of heat. Dressings can make or break a salad, and Asian salad dressings have the right amount of fresh strong flavours, that tie all the ingredients together.

A Thai Beef Salad is one of the most popular Asian salads. Juicy strips of delicious beef tossed with crisp vegetables and crunchy peanuts glazed in a tangy slightly spicy dressing. I recommend you use a nice cut of quality beef to elevate this simple salad to the next level. You can cook the beef to your desired temperature, I however feel cooking a premium cut of beef beyond medium should be illegal.

Ingredients:

For the Salad:

• Good Quality Beef Steak 200-250 g
• Vegetable or Canola oil 1 tbsp
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• Mixed Salad Leaves 2 cups
• Cherry Tomatoes 5-6; halved
• Red Onion 1; thinly sliced
• Cucumber 1; thinly sliced
• Coriander leaves 2 tbsp
• Mint leaves 2 tbsp
• Basil leaves 2 tbsp
• Peanuts 1 tbsp; coarsely crushed
• Red Chilli 1; deseeded and thinly sliced

For the Dressing:

• Thai Chilli 1
• Garlic Cloves 3
• Grated Ginger 1 tsp
• Coriander stems 2 tbsp
• Salt a pinch
• Brown Sugar 2 tsp
• Fish Sauce 2 tbsp
• Lime Juice 1/4 cup
• Sesame Oil 1 tbsp
• Soy Sauce 1 tsp

Method

Grind coriander stems, ginger, garlic, chilli and salt using a mortar and pestle or food processor into a paste. Mix in sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, sesame oil and soy sauce to the chilli paste. You can adjust the dressing to your preferred taste by playing around with the quantities of the dressing ingredients.

Cook the beef steak to your desired temperature of doneness. For this recipe I cooked the steak to a Medium, that means for a 1/2 inch fillet of room-temperature beef, 2 minutes on each side in a searing hot pan. Allow the beef to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing it into thin strips.

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To assemble the salad arrange mixed salad leaves, tomatoes, cucumbers and onions on a plate or salad bowl. Drizzle with a few teaspoons of the dressing. Top with beef strips, sliced chilli and crushed peanuts. Drizzle the remaining dressing on top. Serve immediately.