Mexican-inspired barbecued steak salad with corn, black beans and an excellent dressing
No matter the weather, this will bring a big dose of sunshine to your plate
Hello for the first time in 2025!
I’ve ended up taking quite an extended break from my newsletters because it’s been the loveliest, most-distracting summer break. The second half of 2024 was overwhelming at times and it’s been so nice to reset and find a calmer, saner, more content me on the other side of our holiday. I truly hope you’ve also been able to enjoy a quiet pace for some of December / January too.
I’ve got a few recipes for you today. I hope they’re just what you need at this time of year.
My weekly Easy Eats slot on RNZ starts back next week. You can hear me chatting to Jesse Mulligan every Wednesday at 2pm, sharing a new weeknight friendly recipe.
Kelly xox
I’ve been making versions of this steak salad for a long time. Rump steak is a fairly inexpensive cut of beef and it marinades up beautifully.
I always serve steak sliced in our house. To me, it’s visually more appealing than a great hunk of meat and makes it easy to share.
This is a simple, zingy dressing. It’s a great one to have up your sleeve, even when you’re not making this recipe. Stir through a rice salad or drizzle over any roasted or raw veggies.
Mexican-inspired barbecued steak and black bean salad with honey and coriander dressing
Serves 4 as a main,
Prep time: 20 mins (plus marinating)
Cook time: 20 mins
Steak and marinade
600g rump steak
2 tinned chipotle peppers
2 tablespoons sauce from the tin of chipotle peppers
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons sugar
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons soy
Salad
120g salad leaves
½ red capsicum, core removed and sliced thinly
¼ red onion, sliced thinly
2 radish, sliced very thinly
½ avocado, sliced
100g creamy feta
¾ cup cooked black beans, well rinsed if from a can
1 cooked corn cob, kernels removed or ¾ cup tinned corn kernels
Handful cherry tomatoes, halved
Flaky salt and cracked black pepper
Dressing
Large handful fresh coriander
â…“ cup good quality olive oil
1 garlice clove, diced
1 rounded teaspoon honey
Juice of 1 lemon or lime
Method
Mix together the marinade ingredients in a shallow bowl that will fit the steak. Lay the steak in it and turn over to ensure the meat is well coated. Place in the fridge to marinate for 4-7 hours.
Use a hand blender to blitz the dressing ingredients until smooth. Taste and season well.
Select a large plate or platter. Scatter the salad leaves, capsicum and red onion. Add the radish slices, avocado and crumbled feta. Finish with the black beans, corn and cherry tomatoes.
Heat the barbecue until very hot. Cook the steak for 2-2.5 minutes on each side (depending on thickness). Place on a plate, cover loosely with foil or another plate slightly ajar and rest for 10 minutes. Slice thinly and lay on top of the salad. Drizzle the resting juices over the top.
Pour some of the dressing over the salad just before serving and top with a little flaky sea salt and cracked black pepper. Serve the rest of the dressing on the side.
Things from the archives worth making
This Green Breakfast Bowl is the kind of warm, savoury breakfast I could happily eat most mornings. Less of a rigid recipe, and more of an idea to build upon. I wrote this a couple of years ago for brilliant gluten free bread company Venerdi.
A Retro-Inspired Cheese Ball is a super fun addition to a snack plate. I wrote this the recipe on request last year for The CareFillery and ended up making it again a few times after. It’s a bit of a delight. Adapt to suit whatever nuts or dried fruit you have won hand.
Listening
The Telepathy tapes, Podcast. I’ve made my way through the first 7 episodes of this documentary series. It explores telepathy, savant skills and other incredible abilities in non-verbal autistic children. I can be a real sceptic but I’d also like to believe there is a bit of magic in the world and something beyond what we currently understand. This kind of series could be made badly and exploitatively but I’ve found it be to be very tender.
Songs from The City, Stories from The Sea, PJ Harvey. Listening lately to this much-loved album from my twenties. Good Fortune is such a great song.
Summer holidays can be transformative
We had such a glorious break in Northland this summer. Luke’s family have some land on Whangaruru harbour. It’s fairly isolated and there’s always a lot of us. As always, this year was quite the commune, with 3 generations, kids from 2-17 years old, a few dogs, and lovely friends dropping by for a few nights here and there.
Our family tent was pitched on a head above the beach, giving us the most glorious ocean soundtrack to fall asleep to.
I did lots of cooking this year. There was usually about 25 people for any meal so quite a different proposition from my usual 4-for-dinner. The kitchen space looks out onto the beach, it’s a lovely space to cook. I often arrive for our holiday feeling quite burnt-out from cooking so much for my work but I always leave with new ideas (from the other families) and a renewed appreciation for the pleasure of shared meals. Our big dinners and lunches are one of my girl’s absolute favourite parts of these annual holidays.
Ive shared a few pics from our holiday below.
Thank you for reading! Excuse the typos. Kelly x