Friday, March 27, 2015

FFWD - Next-day Beef Salad



For French Fridays with Dorie this week, we made Next-day Beef Salad.   In my case, it was a misnomer, because the beef was roasted especially so that I could use part of it for this dish.

This salad comprises, cubed roast beef, cherry tomatoes, apple, chilli, cornichons, capsicum, spring onions and capers in a mustard mayo dressing, resting on a bed of greens.  I used spinach for my greens.  Instead of mustard mayo, I used Greek yoghurt flavoured with Dijon mustard, as I don't buy mayo.  I left out the capers for no reason other than that I couldn't find them in my pantry.  I have cornichons left over from another Dorie recipe, but these are also something I would not usually buy.

I fully expected to hate this salad.  I am not a huge salad person generally, and the combination of strong flavours and myriad raw components seemed quite offputting.  However, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this salad. In the future, the only change I'd possibly make is to skip the spring onions, which I found to be rather piquant in their raw state.

To see what the other Doristas thought of this dish, visit the LYL section of the website.

22 comments:

leaf (the indolent cook) said...

Sounds like an interesting mix of flavors - good to know that it was enjoyable, especially since you made roast beef just for it!

Mae Travels said...

So many ways to use up a roast beef!

Beth said...

I must admit that I had to google cornichons to see what they were. So glad you liked this recipe!

Kayte said...

Well sometimes we need to do what we need to do to accomplish the recipe. Nice way to use beef, I'm a big believer in that most anything can go into a salad! :-)

EmilyC said...

Looks good! Should work well for a sandwich filling with the vegs as a side!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

Ooh I must admit that I really liked the sound of this and then you said you really enjoyed this despite not expecting to so I should give this a try!

Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Haha---I roasted beef specifically for this recipe, too!Glad it was a surprise hit for you :)

Mardi Michels said...

Definitely a great way to use up roast beef!

Anonymous said...

Just look at all of these flavors in this dish. To say I'm not getting hungry right now would be a lie lol.

Kay of Pure & Complex
http://www.purecomplex.com

Cher Rockwell said...

I liked this more than I thought I would too - although, I actually used leftovers.
Glad it worked out! It would have been miserable to make the beef and then not like the salad.

Trevor Sis Boom said...

I was wondering how many would end up cooking the beef especially for this recipe! After eating it I think it would be entirely worth it!

Nana said...

This was certainly a nice change, and I am sure
the yogurt gave it a wonderful flavor.

Diane Balch said...

Glad you liked the salad. I just bought some roast beef because I never make it. Funny all the things that you left out were what I loved. I liked the contrast between the salty and sweet, but you did have the pickles. I think you proved that this salad is very flexible.

Betsy said...

I think this was less of a salad than most salads, so maybe that's also why you liked it. I like that the recipe is more of a starting point, and you can use what's in your fridge. I had many of the ingredients called for, but used what I had for the others.

Mary Hirsch said...

When I made this salad, by mistake as a make-up, I thought it was delicious. I know I will make this again even if I have to invent the "leftovers." Glad you liked it, too.

Anonymous said...

I thought that the combination was surprising too! But I have to say it worked. Your salad looks lovely, and I'm so happy you enjoyed it!

Anonymous said...

I had to make my own leftovers this time around as well. And I'm intrigued by your yogurt sub. I have used yogurt as a sub so many times for sour cream, but never for mayo. Interesting to hear that it works here.

Arisuchan said...

maybe if you grilled the green onions first? I've actually come to really enjoy raw green onions but they have to be really thinly sliced! :) glad you enjoyed it!

Jora said...

I roasted chicken especially for this "next-day" salad too. I felt silly, but at least it tasted good. I'm glad you enjoyed this one!

Anonymous said...

I was tempted to cook a roast just for this purpose, too, but I had some stewing beef in the freezer, so I made a beef daube instead. That worked rather well for this recipe.

I like the idea of using yogurt in place of the mayonnaise - I think the tang of it would be great with this salad.

KB from Prof Who Cooks said...

That's great you enjoyed it even knowing it sounded off-putting!

Kathy said...

I knew I wasn’t going to make a roast beef…we were vacationing in Florida! I was lucky to find pre-packaged roast beef…and it was very good! Loved the salad…glad you also enjoyed it!