Winter Steak Salad
Jam-packed with delicious ingredients and lots of texture, this salad is both filling and amazingly satisfying. Tastes great both warm and cold and can be made ahead of time! Paleo, Whole30, and AIP friendly.
Do you get to that point in winter when you look outside and just see brown for as far as you can see (or white) and get depressed?
Yeah, me too.
I think that's why I turn to food to provide color and interest at this time of year.
Citrus, pomegranates, brussels sprouts, kale – all beautiful, colorful ingredients that are at their peak when the rest of the world is so blah.
Make this salad coconut-free
This one's mainly already naturally coconut-free, so the only modification you'd need to make is to omit the toasted coconut!
You'll still get the crunch from the candied pecans or tigernuts (for AIP)!
Even though a salad isn't usually the first thing that comes to mind to cheer one up, this one does the job with the combos of these beautiful colors and flavor!
Winter Steak Salad
Servings: 2 people
Jam-packed with delicious ingredients and lots of texture, this salad is both filling and amazingly satisfying. Tastes great both warm and cold and can be made ahead of time! Paleo, Whole30, and AIP friendlyNote on serving: This serves 2-3 people.
Ingredients
For the Crunchy Topping and Toasted Coconut:
- 1/2 cup Sliced Tigernuts (for AIP) or Pecans
- 1 tbsp Maple Syrup (omit for Whole30)
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/2 cup Coconut Chips or unsweetened, shredded Coconut (omit for coconut-free)
For the Brussels Sprouts:
- 2 cups Brussels Sprouts (ends removed and sliced into 1/4-inch slices)
- 2 tbsp Avocado Oil, Olive Oil, or Coconut Oil
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
For the Steak:
- 4 oz Sirloin Steak
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- 1 tbsp Avocado Oil, Olive Oil, or Coconut Oil
For the Citrus Vinaigrette:
- 1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar ((or White Wine Vinegar))
- 1/4 cup Orange Juice
- 1 tbsp Honey (omit for Whole30)
- 1 clove Garlic (minced)
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/2 cup Olive Oil or Avocado Oil
For the Salad:
- 4 cups Kale (tough stems removed and chopped finely)
- 2 Mandarin Oranges (peeled and segmented)
- 1 Apple (cored and sliced thinly)
- 1/4 cup Pomegranate Arils
Instructions
First, make the crunchy topping + toasted coconut:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the pecans or sliced tigernuts(for AIP) with the maple syrup and sea salt and spread evenly on one half of the baking sheet. If you're on Whole30, just roast the pecans dry with no salt or maple syrup.
- Spread the coconut flakes on the other side of the baking sheet.
- Bake for 7-10 minutes, stirring the coconut at least once, until the coconut is toasted.
Cook the brussels sprouts:
- While the crunchy topping is baking, slice the brussels sprouts.
- Heat a frying pan over medium heat, add the oil, and then add the brussels sprouts. Season with the sea salt and toss a bit to coat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 7-10 minutes, until the brussels soften a bit.
Cook the steak:
- While the brussles are cooking, heat a separate skillet (cast iron if possible) over high heat until smoking hot. Add the oil, and swirl around a bit to cover the bottom of the pan.
- Once the oil in the pan is hot, place the steak into the pan and leave for 5 minutes without disturbing, then flip and cook for another 5 minutes. This is a great time to slice the other veggies if you haven't done so yet! Check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer and remove it from the pan when done. (130 F for rare, 135 for medium-rare, 145 for medium and 155 for well done). Cover with some aluminum foil or a kitchen towel and let rest while you go onto the next step.
Prep the rest of the ingredients:
- While everything is cooking, slice the apple, peel and segment the oranges, remove the arils from the pomegranate (if you didn't buy just the arils), and chop the kale.
- Also make the vinaigrette by whisking all of the ingredients together (you can also just put everything into a jar and shake really well)
Assemble the salads:
- Divide the ingredients between the plates and serve!
Notes
This salad can be made up to 4 days ahead of time. There are a few things to note though if storing it for longer than 24-ish hours:
- I'd keep the toasted coconut and crunchy topping separate from the rest of the ingredients and at room temp because they'll get soggy otherwise.
- Also, if you want to reheat the steak before serving, keep that separate as well.
- And keep the dressing separate and only pour over the salad before serving, otherwise everything could get too soggy again as well.
- Wait to slice the apples until right before serving or toss the apples with a bit of lemon juice so they won't brown
Did you make this recipe?Leave a comment below or share a photo on Instagram and tag me @thrivingautoimmune !
