Crunchy cabbage salad with creamy avocado topping

What to serve with steak? How about a light and crunchy salad with a creamy avocado topping? It’s the perfect side dish for a nice and juicy steak when you prefer something light. Sometimes I find that the meat is so rich in itself that it goes better with a salad than with the traditional potatoes (or broccoli) and bearnaise.

Don’t get me wrong. I do love a good steak bearnaise. But often in the summer, the lighter alternatives seem to win.

I made this crunchy cabbage salad the other day when I had got my hands on some serious côte de boeuf. That has got to be one of my favorite cuts of beef. I had been invited to be a member of the jury in a competition to find the “Steak of the year”. I met with the other jury members last Monday to discuss everything from different cuts to grain fed vs. grass fed, GMO, environmental issues etc. and to chose which cuts should make it to the final in October.

I mean, can you believe that this is a real job? Getting paid to eat and talk about steak! I don’t know what I have done to deserve such a treat! For the competition in October, we will also be discussing side dishes. I think we will see a tendency for the consumer to ask for greener side dishes that aren’t just your regular green salad.

We got to bring some of the meat home with us and I chose two dry aged rib eye steaks, this côte de boeuf and an ‘onglet’ -this is the French word for a cut that’s near the kidneys. It was surprisingly good too! I wonder what the English term is…

Okay, but this salad really wins in two areas: 1) the fresh mint. It’s incredible how just a bit of chopped mint leaves can add so much flavor to a salad. Luckily it grows on my terrace so I have plenty. 2) using avocado cream instead of regular salad dressing is amazing. Avocado wins every time!

SERVES 3-4 PERSONS

• 200g of white cabbage
• 200g of pointed cabbage (mine was purple)
• 150g of carrot
• a small handful of parsley
• a small handful of fresh mint
• 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds, lightly toasted on a dry pan

AVOCADO CREAM

• 2-3 avocados
• 1 tablespoon of lime juice (or lemon)
• 1 tablespoon of full fat sour cream
• 1-2 tsp of ground cumin
• 1 dash of ground coriander
• 1 dash of garlic powder
• a bit of salt
• some dried chili flakes for topping

DIRECTIONS