Thai(ish) beef salad

I love it when you throw together a meal not quite knowing how it’s going to turn out and BOOM you find yourself with something that you add to the rotation without a second thought.

This is one of those meals. It’s super easy, quick, healthy and bonkers delicious (I may have just channeled Joy the Baker).

Step one: Prepare salad. This one has red and green peppers, a tomato, half an avocado, half a red onion, snow peas, red and green chilli (seeds removed because I am a chilli wuss), coriander (cilantro), mint, 1.5tsp fish sauce, the juice of one lime, and salt and pepper. I chop everything so it’s long and skinny, no particular reason, I just like the look of it.

Step two: Prepare beef. This was a job for the BF. Boy can cook a steak like no one’s business. Season it with a little salt and pepper then throw it on the bbq. Once cooked rest said steak. Once rested slice it up and add it to you salad.

Step three: Serve and eat.

Recipe wise this served 2. What you put in the salad is 100% up to you, I had carrots out on my bench too but they were neglected this time. The steak is eye fillet, but if you have a cut you prefer use that! If there is just one of you make a smaller salad and cook up just one piece of steak- and remember to half the amount of fish sauce, nothing stuffs up your salad quicker than too much fish sauce. It you’re cooking for a crowd load the bowl and bbq up.

The Banff

I should start by clarifying I am not talking about the popular Canadian skiing destination. As much as I would love to wax lyrical about the place the fact that I have never actually visited it makes that a little difficult.

What I am talking about is The Banff, a little St Kilda restaurant with a relaxed vibe and tasty food. The staff aren’t always the friendliest but it can be overlooked due to the speed at which your food arrives. And if you head there on a Tuesday (as I did with a couple of friends) you’ll get all the In House pizzas for $6 a pop.

This was my pizza, the mushroom ragu, it was not quite as ragu-ish as I remembered but still delicious. I could quite easily have eaten two.

There’s mine again along with the Italian sausage and olive that one of my companions enjoyed. I had a little taste, it was pretty darn good.

The bolognese pizza is up the back there, it, and like the two before it was also very tasty. Oh yes, and to create a little balance with all of our carbs and cheese, we got some salads too.

Pumpkin, goats cheese and red onion; pear and parmesan; apple, walnut and blue cheese. They were all demolished.

A perfectly relaxed Tuesday dinner.

The Banff
145 Fitzroy St, St Kilda
9525 3899