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Thai beef salad with roast pumpkin, kaffir lime and peanuts

A good Thai beef salad is one of my all time favourite dishes; I love the bold flavours, freshness of lots of crunchy vegetables and Asian herbs, not to mention a sweet, salty, sour and hot dressing that packs a flavour punch!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer and Starters, Lunch, Main
Servings 2
Calories 495 kcal
Dairy Free, Diabetic, Gluten Free

Ingredients
  

Caramelised roast pumpkin

  • 500 g pumpkin cut into 2–3cm pieces
  • 2 teaspoons spice mix see in method
  • 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic chopped
  • salt pinch

Dressing

  • 1 kaffir lime leaf central stem removed, very finely chopped
  • ½ chilli finely chopped (optional)
  • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger finely grated
  • 1 clove garlic finely minced
  • lemon juice of 1
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Beef and salad

  • 300 g beef scotch fillet at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon spice mix see in method
  • 4 handfuls baby spinach leaves or other salad leaves
  • ¼ cup roasted peanuts or cashew nuts, roughly chopped
  • ½ cup Thai herbs e.g. Mint, coriander, Thai basil etc, chopped (reserve a few leaves for garnish)

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 200°C. Line an oven tray with baking paper.
  • Toss pumpkin with pumpkin and spice mix, sweet chilli sauce, olive oil, garlic and salt in prepared tray. Season with salt and roast for 25–30 minutes until caramelised. The pumpkin should be browned and a bit sticky on the edges.
  • Mix all dressing ingredients together and set aside.
  • Pat beef dry with paper towels. Rub with spice mix and season well with salt. Heat a drizzle of oil in a medium fry-pan on high heat. Cook steak for about 2-3 minutes each side for medium rare (depending on thickness), or until cooked to your liking. Cover with tinfoil and set aside to rest for 5–10 minutes, before slicing thinly against the grain.
  • Toss pumpkin with spinach, nuts, herbs and dressing.
  • To serve, divide salad between plates and top with slices of beef. Garnish with a few herbs.

Spice mix

  • mix together 2 teaspoons ground coriander and 1 teaspoon ground turmeric

Notes

This recipe is an Autumn/Winter version of a Thai beef salad, with roast pumpkin and some spinach tossed through it. I use Thai dressings like this one so often on salads. The kaffir lime really makes a difference to this salad, but if you can’t get hold of it you could use lime zest. This recipe is from My Food Bag‘s Gourmet bag and had such amazing feedback, we included it in our second book, What’s For Dinner?