RECIPE – Summer Surf and Turf

So yesterday around 10:30am, the hubs messages me with something along the lines of there’s an event on tonight (a big dinner and industry awards night) and his work are not going for the first time (Ben had assumed they were going and amped himself up for it). “I’m a little upset about it” he said “so with that in mind, I’d like a super nice dinner :) happy to go and buy any ingredients you need”. Next message “PLEASE! Super nice dinner please :) xx”

I wrote back with “Bloody hell, no pressure!” and asked what he felt like. “Steak and a nuts salad”. There was a period a while back where I put nuts into all my salads. They make them more filling and also more interesting – which when you’re trying to serve a salad to a man as dinner is key! So Ben took to calling my salads ‘nuts salads’.

Okay my love. I accept your challenge – a super nice dinner of steak and a nuts salad (minus the nuts this time)

It was fricken hot in Sydney yesterday, so it was only appropriate to do something uber summery. What is more summery than a surf and turf meal? Nothing.

Enter – Steak with a prawn and mango salad with jalapeño and lime dressing.

The word perfect gets thrown around a lot, but I’m telling you now – this was the best dinner I have made since… well, something else that was this perfect.

You’ll need (serves 2) (time: 35mins)

• 1 large piece rump steak or 2 small ones
• 8 green prawns, peeled but tails attached
• 1 mango
• 1/2 an avocado
• 1/2 cucumber thinly sliced
• 1 bag mixed leaf lettuce
• 1 green onion
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 jalapeño – I used 1/2, but good luck buying 1/2 of one :)
• 1 lime (for both zest and juice)
• 1/2 cup coriander (cilantro)
• 2 tbs butter
• 1 clove garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste

I didn’t have a recipe for this, so I just thought logically about what needed to be done. To get everything ready together in this dish – preparation is key. Getting small tasks out of the way first will mean there is less to distract you later on when everything is hitting the fan.

• Finely slice the white (and a bit of green) part of your spring onion and soak it in cold water. This will make it curl up and essentially look pretty as a garnish. You could toss it through the salad if you like, but I just piled it up on top.

Did you know that if you plant the root of a green onion it will regrow? Free food!

•  Then I peeled my prawns and left them in a bowl of water

Don’t forget your poo tubes!

• Then it was time to make my dressing. Into a blender add the zest and juice of your lime, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/2 a jalapeño which has been deseeded, and 1/2 cup of coriander. Blitz away, and then taste, adding seasoning to your liking. Set aside

• Next up, I chopped my mango, cucumber and added my lettuce to a salad bowl. I always add my lettuce last – that way you can get your ratio to how much lettuce vs other ingredients you need. You can always add more, but it’s difficult to take out ;) Hot tip #743. Also, I didn’t add my avocado yet! I didn’t want to risk it oxidising (go brown), and I didn’t want to add my dressing yet to counteract that, as it would make my lettuce go slimy. Hold off on cutting your av!

• Then it was time to get the steak happening. It was a thick piece so I guestimated about 4 mins on each side. But I always keep an eye on it and use the finger test.

• A few minutes after flipping my steak I melted some butter in a pan and added a clove of crushed garlic. When it was melted, the steak was ready to come out and rest, while my prawns cooked – be logical.
• I usually overcook my prawns so I sliced a couple down the middle so I could see the colour change from clear to opaque and gauge the rest that way. If you’re game enough to multitask at this point, chop your 1/2 an avocado and add to the salad bowl.  After about 3 mins the prawns are done! (oh, I also spooned maybe 2 tsp of my jalapeño dressing over them too).

Then toss the dressing through the salad (reserving a little to drizzle… we all love a drizzle!), slice the steak in half, pile up the salad, top with 4 prawns each, and then the green onions, drizzle, serve to your other half and wait for the praise. Hell, praise yourself! Best. summer. meal. ever.