Rare beef salad with watermelon and raw zucchini noodles

I love this style of food. It’s fast, fresh, light and packs a punch. This salad really has it all – the crunch of raw cucumber and garden radish, red chilli heat, sweetness from watermelon and all-important protein from beef. It’s a great way to stave off an afternoon sugar-craving meltdown. Enjoy!

• serves

  4

• prep

  25 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 x 220 g beef scotch fillet steaks
• olive oil, to drizzle
• salt and pepper, to season
• 2 zucchinis
• 1 bunch baby red radishes, washed
• 1 large telegraph cucumber
• ½ long red chilli, thinly sliced, plus extra, to serve
• ½ cup fresh coriander leaves
• ½ cup fresh mint leaves
• ½ watermelon, rind removed, cut into thin wedges
• ¼ cup roasted unsalted peanuts, roughly chopped

Dressing

• 1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tsp tamari
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• ½ long red chilli, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp grated palm sugar

Instructions

For the dressing, place all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk together until well combined and sugar is dissolved. Taste and adjust if needed by adding a little more tamari to increase the saltiness, lime for sourness, sugar for sweetness and chilli for heat. Set aside.

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat. Lightly oil and season the steaks. Once the pan is hot, add the steaks and cook for 2 minutes on each side (8 minutes all up) or until rare or to your liking. Remove from the pan and let rest while you prepare the salad.

For the salad, use a vegetable peeler to cut the zucchini into noodle-like ribbons and place in a bowl. Thinly slice the radishes using a sharp knife or mandolin. Place the sliced radishes into the bowl with the zucchini noodles. Chop the cucumber into rough chunks and add to the bowl along with the chilli, coriander, mint and watermelon. Pour three-quarters of the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.

Thinly slice the beef. Arrange the salad on a serving platter and top with the sliced beef and the remaining dressing. Sprinkle with the chopped peanuts and extra chilli. Serve.

Recipe from Finger, Fork & Knife by Kate Olsson, with photographs by Kate Olsson.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.