Beef salad is a hearty and tasty dish. It belongs to the large number of dishes made with meats, herbs, vegetables and fruit. Despite the meat content, it is mostly low-calorie.
Beef meat differs from other meats in its usefulness due to its high protein content and high iron content. Beef contains zinc, sulphur, phosphorus, calcium and vitamins A, PP and B. Regular consumption of this meat helps to improve the nervous system, improve the immune system and metabolic processes in the body.
Beef goes well with many foods: vegetables, mushrooms, cereals, cheese, spices and even fruit.
Beef salad is made with tomatoes, potatoes, corn, cucumbers, bell peppers and beans.
Serve this salad cold and warm.
Cooking Technology for Beef Salad
Boiled
A staple meat of many diets. Beef meat is low in calories.
Beef for salads is boiled, but there are variations using roast and grilled meat. Young calf meat (veal) – cooks for no more than 30 minutes and beef for a little longer – 60 to 90 minutes.
For beef meat to be tasty and to be of maximum benefit – you need to cook it properly. After cooking the beef, leave it for about 10-15 minutes. It is not necessary to continue the cooking process with the product immediately. Let the meat rest so that the juices can spread evenly.
● Make sure to trim off the meat: all membranes, skins and fatty layers.
● When boiling, once the water has boiled over, drain it and pour in new water.
● Beef can easily be cooked in the multicooker – simply by selecting the appropriate mode.
● Add spices, pepper and bay leaves during cooking – to flavour the meat.
● You can cook beef with honey – the meat is juicy and tender.
● Meat loses about 20% of its weight when cooked.
● Cooked beef is soft and easy to pierce with a knife. The cooking time depends on the freshness of the meat.
Baked in the oven
● To bake a whole piece of beef in foil – rub it with a mixture of aromatic herbs, spices and olive oil.
● Quickly roast on all sides in a hot, dry frying pan. This preserves all the juices and makes the meat juicy.
● If the meat has been marinated beforehand, the beef does not need to be roasted.
● Cooking time for beef in foil – at 220 °C (428 °F), 1 hour and 15 minutes for each kilo of meat.
● Be sure to wrap the foil tightly around the beef. This will preserve the meat juices – the beef will be juicy and tasty.
● The beef should not be salted before baking so that all the juices escape.
● To prevent the beef from drying out, stuff it with bits of pork fat and garlic and wrap it in strips of bacon. In this way, the meat will be more tender and juicy. Cook at 190 °C (374 °F).
● For baking in foil, it is best to use the sirloin, shoulder, brisket and thicker edge.
● When baking in the oven – put the meat in the preheated oven – this way all the proteins and vitamins will not disappear.
Fried
● Slice the beef and place it in a frying pan heated with oil.
● Roast the beef according to time: In a pan, pan-fry the slices for 25 minutes – stirring, over a medium heat without a lid. Grill slabs of fresh beef for 20 minutes – 10 minutes on each side. Grill the beef slices for about 20-25 minutes.
● Before grilling, coat the beef pieces in oil, sprinkle with salt and spices, cover and leave in a cold place for 2 hours. You can also soak the beef in dry wine, soy sauce, lemon juice or a mixture of these.
● Before grilling, the beef can be battered to make it soft.
● When roasting beef, it is best to use a pan with a ribbed top. This way, the beef is roasted and not stewed in its own juices.
● When laying the beef on the pan, bear in mind: the meat must not touch the pan and a large distance from the beef pieces can cause the oil to burn.
● The most tender part of the beef for roasting is the loin from the hind-lumbar region of the beef.
● If using tough beef for roasting, marinate the meat in soy sauce, mustard, honey or lemon juice. Marinate the beef for about 3 hours.
● If the beef is tough: Return the meat to the pan with the oil, pour in a little water, add the sour cream and stew for 10 minutes. You can boil the meat in milk or cream, in a mixture of wine and soya sauce, in cucumber brine.
Stew
The beef stew gives the dish a flavourful and succulent flavour.
The stew, unlike a roast, turns out soft and juicy.
● Braising does not use a lot of vegetable oil, as with frying. The meat is easy to prepare.
● The main feature of beef stew is that the meat retains all of its nutrients. It is cooked in its own juice and soaked in a rich broth.
● Beef stew is tender and soft. A long braising time softens the tough fibres of the meat well.
● Braising is a long heat treatment. This cooking process completely destroys parasites and harmful bacteria that can be present in raw meat.
● For shorter cooking times, marinate the meat beforehand or use a special cooking technique.
Grilled steak
● The thickness of the steak should be 2-5 cm.
● The more often the steak is turned during cooking, the juicier and more evenly cooked and with a slightly pronounced crust.
● The less you flip the steak, the crispier and browner the surface will be.
● Place the seasoned steaks at room temperature in a well-heated frying pan with vegetable oil. The steaks should not touch each other – if frying in batches.
● Fry for 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the desired degree of doneness.
● Turn the steaks over. Add a few peeled and crushed (but not crushed) cloves of garlic and 2-3 sprigs of thyme or rosemary to the pan and put 15 grams of butter on each steak.
● When the butter has melted, fry for another 1-2 minutes (according to the desired degree of doneness), pour the steaks, using a spoon, over the fragrant fat.
● Fry the sides of the meat until the colour changes.
● Place the steaks on a rack on a plate or tray, or simply on a plate, and leave to rest for 4-5 minutes. You can cover with foil (to slow down the cooling process) so that the surface is less crispy.
● Serve the steaks with freshly ground black pepper and a little salt.
● You can drizzle the steaks with the aromatic oil from the pan. Make a sauce out of it.
A variety of sauces are suitable for steak – mouldy cheese sauce, Argentine chimichurri, creamy horseradish sauce and others.
Serve the grilled steak with a simple vegetable or leaf salad.
Ingredients to be Combined with Beef
Beef does not tolerate pungent flavours and complex flavour combinations. Vegetables that are delicate and slightly tinged with natural flavour and aroma are suitable – carrots; green beans; zucchini; peas; spinach; beetroot; Brussels sprouts.
The best combinations of vegetables and beef:
● for steaks – broccoli, corn, boiled asparagus;
● for beef stew- mashed potatoes with mushrooms or porcini mushrooms.
Beef meat should not be combined with stewed or sauerkraut.
Beef goes well with:
● vegetable oil
● cherry tomatoes
● fresh garlic
● chicken eggs
● onions
● With potatoes
● sun-dried tomatoes
Beef Salad Recipes
Salads with boiled beef
In recipes for boiled beef salads, in addition to the beef itself, additional ingredients such as eggs, mushrooms and cucumbers, and cheese are often used. The components can be pickled. Greens are a wonderful addition to the salad. You can choose from lettuce, romaine, iceberg, but any greens and plenty of them will improve the taste of the salad.
In European countries, beef salad has its own twist. Changing the taste of the salad with a small handful of nuts, pomegranate seeds or prunes. Chopped walnuts or almonds, or roasted peanuts are used.
Variations of this salad differ in the addition of different vegetables – potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, beetroots, radishes, onions, sweet peppers, paprika, Korean carrots. You can use olive oil, mustard cream sauce and mayonnaise for the dressing. You can experiment with sauces – dress the salad with mayonnaise or a mixture of mustard and yoghurt and add lemon juice and vinegar – they will be indispensable for the dressing and plenty of herbs are a must.
Parmesan and beans make a lovely variety to the salad. Add a dressing of olive oil and wine vinegar to spice up the beef and all the ingredients. The beef can be stewed rather than boiled and the spices can also be added to suit your taste.
Spicy garlic dressing is popular for beef salad in Chinese cooking. The meat is used both boiled and blanched in water. As is the norm in oriental dishes, there is a huge variety of spices and hot seasonings – garlic, chilli pepper, sugar, sesame seeds and Sichuan chilli pepper flakes, vinegar, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and coriander.
Salads with roast beef
Among the most popular beef salads is the Italian strachetti di manzo. Perfectly grilled meat, complemented by tomatoes, dressing and herbs.
In Mexican cuisine, the beef salad is dressed with taco seasoning. The meat is stewed with green chilli and beef broth.
In Vietnam, beef salad is a popular street food dish, taking minimal time to prepare and resulting in a nutritious and satisfying meal. Vietnamese beef salad is filled with fresh herbs, flavourful beef and a refreshing lime sauce dressing. The roast beef, colourful vegetables and herbs are arranged on a bed of soft vermicelli. The salad is dressed with a special Vietnamese fish sauce and stirred well before eating. Vietnamese cuisine is known to be very spicy and mostly spicy. To soften the spiciness you can add mango. This fruit not only adds an unusual touch of flavour to the meat but also makes the salad more delicate.
There are many recipes for roast beef salad. They differ in the ingredients and the way they are served. They can be served warm or cold.
Beef salads can be found in Mediterranean, Asian and American cuisines. But perhaps the most common is the Thai version. They add lime, chilli, mint and coriander. They create an incredible extravaganza of flavours. Before cooking the salad, the beef can be marinated so that it becomes juicier, and it can be grilled. Thai beef salad is one of the most famous Asian salads. Bright, fresh, strongly flavoured dressings are used. Just pure fresh flavours – often with lots of warm, fresh chilli.
In the Asian version, the salad is filled with berries, almonds, feta and arugula, drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette (a dressing made from a combination of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sugar, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper). The flavours of sweet and savoury come together. Thai salads are heavily seasoned with spices and rice noodles are used for a hearty version.
A warm beef salad can be considered both an appetizer and a main course at the same time. It combines tender roast meat, vegetables and seasonings.
Cut the beef into thin slices and you can make it any way you like, combine it with lightly roasted bell peppers, fresh and juicy cherry tomatoes, onions, lettuce and aubergines. The vegetables can be different, you can use them fresh. When serving, sprinkle this salad with balsamic cream or ginger dressing, which adds spice and flavour to the succulent meat.
Beef steak salads
A huge variety of salad recipes are available for beef that is cooked as a steak. As a rule, the meat is grilled. Any kind of vegetables – sweet corn, tomatoes, avocados, red onions, sweet peppers, cucumbers, lots of herbs – can be added.
A true American or, more precisely, Californian version of steak salad – crunchy greens, juicy strawberries, tangy goat cheese and a bright, tangy citrus vinaigrette. Be sure to add cilantro for flavour. The salad can have sweet or sour fruits: citrus, pineapple, banana, mango, strawberries etc. They give the salad an Asian twist and many incongruous flavours. Combines delicate roast meats, vegetables, fruit and spices.
South American chimichurri sauce – consists of parsley, olive oil, garlic, vinegar and chilli flakes. creamy cilantro and lime dressing. The dressing is particularly spicy for beefsteak salad. Most often sweet and sour or spicy. The dressing is based on soy sauce or an oil-vinegar mixture with various spices: pepper, garlic, ginger, and sugar or honey.
Steaks are often used to make Thai-style salads. Exotic, colourful, it combines several different flavours at once. For Thais, cooking is an art. Dishes are lavishly flavoured with spices. Steak is used to make a warm Thai salad. This is a popular dish in Thailand. Tender slices of beef mixed with a spicy sauce. Consists mainly of fish sauce and lime juice, with mixed vegetables and fresh herbs.
Storage
If the salad is made from ingredients that have not been heat-treated but have been dressed with vegetable oil, store it on the top shelf, packed in a glass jar with a lid. The shelf life of the salad in the refrigerator is 2-3 hours. Later, the salad will lose its freshness and taste.
Store the dressed salad in the refrigerator for no more than 12 hours.
Store the salad and its ingredients in a glass or plastic container.
Sour cream dressing. Sour cream is the main ingredient. This product spoils quickly. After about 30 minutes at room temperature, the dressing will begin to sour. This will also affect the shelf life of the dressed salad.
A salad with mayonnaise dressing has a shelf life of no more than 6 hours.
To check the freshness of the salad, slide the ingredients to the side with a spoon; if the bottom of the dish is dry, the salad is fresh. If there is liquid at the bottom, the salad is starting to spoil.