Grilled Red Lettuce, Eye fillet and Orange Salad
Fine slices of melt-in-your-mouth eye fillet are nestled in a salad of grilled lettuce, fresh orange and pickled fennel before being drizzled in an orange sauce. The addition of pepitas and walnuts adds a delicious crunch to this fresh and light meal.
How long will it take?
30 minutes
What’s the serving size?
Serves 2
What do I need?
- 2 x 150g eye fillet steaks
- 100ml red wine
- ½ tbsp thyme
- ½ tsp minced garlic
- 100ml freshly squeezed orange juice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- 40ml apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for grilling
- ½ small fennel bulb, very finely sliced (use a mandolin if you have one)
- 2 baby red gem lettuce, rinsed
- 1 orange, peeled and sliced into rounds
- 30g pepitas
- 30g walnuts, roughly chopped
How do I make it?
- Mix the wine, thyme, garlic, 50ml of orange juice together in a shallow dish and season to taste. Place steaks in the mixture and spoon marinade over. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine remaining orange juice, sugar and 20 ml of apple cider vinegar. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring to the boil and cook until it has reduced to a glaze. Remove from heat and stir in olive oil and season to taste.
- Remove steaks from the marinade, brush with a little olive oil and cook on the barbecue or a grill pan over medium-high heat until the steaks are medium-rare, approximately 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from pan, and set aside to rest for at least 10 minutes. After resting, use a sharp knife to cut the steak into thin slices.
- Add fennel to a bowl and pour over the remaining 20 ml of apple cider vinegar. Set aside to pickle slightly while you prepare the lettuce
- Remove the large leaves from the gem lettuce and cut the hearts into wedges. Heat a grill pan on high and lightly char the leaves.
- Arrange the grilled leaves on a serving plate. Drain the fennel and sprinkle on top of the lettuce.
- Arrange the orange and eye fillet slices on top and scatter with pepitas and walnuts. Season with a sprinkle of sea salt, drizzle with the orange dressing and serve.
