Chimichurri sauce steak with Asian-style green salad

By braai chic

Summer’s here and that means braai time (although, if like us you live in the Midlands, you’ll be wondering whether the proper summer will ever arrive!).

We braai a lot under normal circumstances and love a bit of variety. Sure, the norm is baked potatoes, mielies on the braai, plus chops, chicken, steak or wors, but we also love a fish braai and do quite a bit with stuff like roasted veg and breads. Heck, even a Fry’s veggie burger has graced my grid on occasion (skandaal!)

We leap at just about any excuse to cook over the coals. Picture: Jaco Pretorius

For this blog we’ve pulled something out of an old copy of Pick n Pay’s Fresh Living magazine.

At first glance it’s all about the red meat, but we’ve mixed it up with a killer Asian-style green salad.

If you want to “beef” it up a little, why not bulk it out with a delicious homemade sweetcorn bread?

Argentinian chimichurri sauce and steak

We recommend you try Linga Lapa’s red meat selection. About 800g of delicious rump steak, cooked medium rare over a hot fire and cut into thin slices, would be just about perfect.

The sauce:

Finely chop about 40g of parsley (2 PnP punnets), leaves only, and 4 sprigs oregano.

Combine with 1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil, 3Tbsp (45ml) red wine vinegar, 2-3 chopped garlic cloves and 1 red chilli.

Serve with your perfectly grilled and sliced steak.

Asian-style green salad

Turn your salad into the star of the show with a punchy, Asian inspired dressing.

Salad:
1 punnet (250g) asparagus, halved
1 punnet (125g) baby corn, halved,
1 punnet (125g) mangetout
2 tubs (100g each) English spinach (washed)
1/4 cup of radishes, sliced.

Dressing:
1/2 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1cm knob ginger, chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
2 Tbsp (30ml) soy sauce
1 Tbsp (15ml) sesame oil
Juice and grated peel of 1 lime
1 Tbsp chopped coriander
Salt and milled pepper
*1 Tbsp (15ml) toasted sesame seeds, for serving
*Lime slices, for serving

Delicious red meat on the braai. What better than accompanied by a glass of red wine? Picture: Merrit Thomas on Unsplash

More Meander Chronicle food: Get in those greens!

Method:
Blanch asparagus, baby corn and mangetout in a pot of simmering water for 1-2 minutes.

Drain and refresh in ice water.

Combine salad ingredients in a serving bowl.

Mix dressing ingredients together and season to taste.

Pour dressing over salad, sprinkle with sesame seeds and garnish with lime slices before serving.

SERVES 4

** You can grill the asparagus on the braai first to get that woody, smoky flavour into your salad.

Serve the spicy steak and crunchy salad on a large platter with some delicious corn bread, and a bottle of your favourite red wine, and you won’t go wrong. Of course, we’d add some lamb chops, a few ice cold beers, a flattie chicken and …. And for dessert, what about our ridiculously yummy date cake?

Now read: Making the most of festive season food in a pandemic year