Steak and Papaya Salad with Kiwi Ginger Dressing
You can enjoy steak without the potatoes. The best part is that this Steak and Papaya Salad with Kiwi Ginger Dressing will help you soak up the important iron in that meat.
Equipment
- 1 chef's knife
- 1 large cutting board
- 1 cast iron grill pan or cast iron pan (preferred, but use an 8" or larger pan if you don't have cast iron)
Ingredients
- 1 pound steak about ¾ inch thick or less
- ½ tsp seasoned salt
- ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
- 2 heads butter lettuce or bibb lettuce (or 8 cups mixed greens)
- 1 papaya chopped
- 1 avocado chopped
- ¼ red onion sliced
- 1 recipe of Kiwi Ginger Dressing
Instructions
- Preheat cast iron grill pan or cast iron pan on medium high heat. Season both sides of the steak with salt and pepper.
- When the grill or pan is smoking, put the meat on. Cook the meat for 4 minutes on each side for medium rare doneness or 5 minutes on each side for medium doneness. Put on a plate to rest while you wash and cut your other ingredients.
- Slice the steak against the grain. On each plate, put 3 to 4 tablespoons of salad dressing. Then top the dressing with lettuce, papaya, avocado, red onions, and the steak.
Video
Notes
Tips and Tricks
Can I prepare this salad in advance?
It takes a little extra work to meal prep this salad. Portion the salad dressing on the bottom of your lunch container. Then top with your papaya, avocado, and red onion. You can squeeze a tiny bit of lemon juice on the avocado chunks to help keep them from getting too brown.
Slice the steak into serving-size portions (not into slices) but keep it in a separate container. Then heat the container for a minute in a microwave when you’re ready to eat. If you have access to a toaster oven at lunchtime, I would use a foil-lined baking sheet in the toaster oven to reheat the steak at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 7 minutes. Once it’s heated, then slice the meat into strips for your salad.
What if I want cheese?
A little bit of Parmesan cheese, Blue cheese, or Feta cheese will be tasty on this salad. Calcium does block the body from absorbing iron well, so just a little cheese so you don’t negate the hard work of prepping a steak salad with papaya.
What if I can’t get fresh papaya?
You can use defrosted papaya for this salad. Defrost the papaya overnight separately from the rest of the salad. The next day, strain the papaya chunks from the liquid from defrosting and put the chunks on your salad.
If you want a substitution, oranges, kiwi, or grapes would taste wonderful. Also, all of these fruits have Vitamin C, so you get the same effects as if you were eating the salad with papaya.
Do I have to let the steak rest?
Yes!! If you cut the steak right after you finish cooking it, you will have steak juices bleeding out of the steak onto your cutting board or plate. Instead of juicy steak, you will have dry steak and a wet cutting board/plate.