One of the first principles I teach my clients is to make lunch the biggest, most nutrient dense meal of the day as the digestive system works most efficiently between 10am - 2pm. With lunch being the main meal, that means dinner should be small and light because your digestion is weaker in the evening. You could do a soup or stew in the autumn and winter and a salad in the spring and summer. This nutrient-dense steak salad is a great option for a light weeknight dinner. You'll feel full from the protein, healthy fat and fiber while keeping the calories pretty low at around 400. Plus it's totally delicious and satisfying!

The star of this simple salad is the dressing. It hits all five tastes - sweet, salty, bitter, pungent and spicy. Often times I'll double the dressing recipe so I don't have to be stingy about wanting to douse my salad with delicious, healthy dressing!

Steak Salad with Ginger-Wasabi Dressing

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cups water
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
6 green onions, chopped
3 Tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
3 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp tamari
1 Tbsp raw, local honey
2 tsp wasabi powder
1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt, divided
1 pound grassfed flank steak
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 Tbsp melted ghee
1 5-oz package of arugula
2 cups shredded carrots
2 cups shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Add 2 cups of water to a saucepan and bring to a boil on high. Once boiling, add the rinsed cup of quinoa. Add a pinch of salt and cover. Bring to a boil again (doesn't take long), then reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes until there is no water left. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Transfer to a large bowl to cool.
In a blender, combine 3 chopped green onions, ginger, rice vinegar, lime juice, sesame oil, tamari, honey wasabi powder and 1/4 tsp salt. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a jar for easy pouring.
Preheat grill or grill pan to medium-high.
Season steak with 1/4 tsp salt and ground pepper. Oil the steak with the melted ghee. Make sure the grill pan is hot and add steak to grill. Turn once after about 4-6 minutes for medium. Transfer to a clean cutting board to rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice against the grain.
Toss arugula, carrots, cabbage and 1/2 cup of the dressing with the quinoa. Divide the salad among 4 plates, sprinkle on the toasted sesame seeds and top with slices of steak. Drizzle each with 1 Tbsp of the remaining dressing.

All up, I think this took me about 30-40 minutes to prepare, including chopping the carrots into matchsticks, shredding cabbage, and cooking the quinoa. To save time, use leftover cooked quinoa and buy pre-shredded carrots, coleslaw mix and pre-washed arugula.

Enjoy!

Steph x

Recipe adapted from Eating Well, May/June 2016