Now this is what I call a REAL salad. It is packed full of rich and juicy flavours and you may not think it, but it fits the brief for a guilt-free, healthy lifestyle time and time again! Creamy gorgonzola cheese with juicy pears and a steak that is marinated in just a splash of teriyaki sauce. That small splash makes it the most succulent sweet tasting piece of meat, and when it’s thinly sliced as pictured above, each little bite is this bombshell of flavour! For me, it’s the ultimate dinner when you want something filling and satisfying yet still low in calories and doesn’t consist of just a big bowl of pasta!

One small request if I may for anyone trying out this dish: get a little bit of each ingredient on every forkful! Sounds like an odd thing to say I know, but honestly the combination of these ingredients are just incredible. I sometimes struggle cooking for my better half because he has this weird habit and love for saving his favourite individual ingredient till last, i.e he will eat the steak alone… which for me kind’ve defeats the point of putting it all together on a plate! Each to their own but I do ask if you have the same habit then you might consider ditching it for this one dish :)

The Cilantro-lime dressing is light and fresh and brings the whole dish together, it’s also super simple to make! Coriander is in fact a little super food in it’s own right! You can have a read here to find out more: https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-coriander.html

Back to this ultimate salad fitting in the clean and guilt-free lifestyle…it’s not our usual chicken & cucumber or tuna sweetcorn salad so how can something this indulgent and delicious actually be good for us? There’s a few reasons. Firstly you have succulent lean protein which is essential for building muscle AND plays a key role in fat loss, it will also make you feel satiated and fuller for much longer hence wavering any temptations to snack! We all know vitamin and mineral loaded spinach is one of our super foods so I won’t go into too much detail for out green goddess! The pears? Full of fibre and Vitamin C and give that real sweetness to the salad that just makes you want to devourer the whole plate!

Finally our exquisite, and my much loved gorgonzola cheese. I know you may of heard from people to STAY AWAY from all cheeses because of its high fat content. However, I disagree with this statement for the individuals leading a healthy and active lifestyle. Is cheese high in fat? Yes sure, but eaten in moderation and as part of a balanced diet will in my opinion only lead to positive results. Nothing changes a salad like a bit of creamy cheese does, it’s heavenly, it’s satiating and it’s indulgent without causing severe spikes in your sugar levels which generally lead to fat gain. The point is, if you feel as though you are not restricting yourself, you are loving the food you get to eat and cook, it will only encourage you to continue developing that healthy cycle and you won’t find you over indulge. That little bit of cheese is not going to make a difference to your body on that day, but what it will make a difference to is your positive outlook on how brilliant and easy a clean-living and healthy life can be. I can’t speak for everyone but that’s how I choose to live and i’m very happy, healthy and fit because of it. Please do note that if you have serious health issues, I am not encouraging you to eat cheese salads every day.

Steak, Pear & Gorgonzola Salad

 

Print

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

Author: Carly's Kitchen

Serves: 1 steak salad

Ingredients

• 2 Top Sirloin steaks
• 1 Tbs teriyaki sauce
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• Pinch of Sea salt, pepper and chilli flakes
• ½ packet of spinach leaves
• 2 pears
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbs honey
• 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1 stick of celery
• 40g gorgonzola cheese

Dressing

• Bunch of coriander
• Juice of one lime
• 2 tbs olive oil
• Sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Rub the steaks with the teriyaki sauce, sea salt, pepper, chilli flakes until fully covered.
2. Cover and set aside in the fridge for as long as possible (ideally 3 hours minimum up to 12 hours)
3. In a small frying pan, add the honey, coconut oil and cinnamon and bring to simmering point.
4. Core and slice up the pears into wedges and toss them in the simmering honey mixture until coated and slightly softened, remove from heat.
5. Lay out the spinach leaves on a dish, add the sweetened pears and tear apart the gorgonzola cheese so it scatters across the dish.
6. Chop up the celery into small stick and scatter these over too.

Make the dressing

1. Chop up the coriander up finely and mix with the lime, olive oil, salt and pepper

Cook the steaks

1. Add the tsp of coconut oil to the grill pan and get it very hot.
2. Grill the steaks for 2-3 minutes on each side depending how well done you like them.
3. Remove from heat, cut off the fat and then slice.
4. Layer the steaks on top of the salad and top with the cilantro-lime dressing.

3.5.3226