Porto-Pesto Steak Salad

I purchased my first food spiralizer last week, and instantly became inspired! I was inspiralized!

I love discovering new and exciting ways to prepare food, and this new little funky device opened up a whole new world to me of zucchini noodles, spiralled beet salad and curly fries! It also definitely became the inspiration behind this post 🙂

Just because I eat vegan,doesn’t mean I cannot enjoy a steak every once in a while. It may be a portobello streak rather than a beef steak, but the flavour is top notch and fully satisfying. Portobello mushrooms can be marinated in a steak spice (or whatever marinate you chose) and absorb the flavours fully to deliver a beautiful culinary dish.

I know, I know…it is still not meat, and the texture may not be bang on, but even my meat-and-potatoes-kind-of-guy hubby would say these portobello steaks are pretty delicious. Or, in his own words, “I’m actually pretty impressed with these…”. Well, I’ll take it! And paired with a creamy spicy avocado pesto sauce, can you really go wrong?!

Recipe: Porto-Pesto Steak Salad
-Dairy free, Gluten Free, Egg Free

Ingredients:

  • Pesto Dressing:

    • 1 small-medium avocado
    • 1/4 cup fresh basil
    • 2 cloves fresh garlic
    • 1/2 fresh lemon
    • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
    • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Steak Spice
    • 1 teaspoon paprika
    • 1 teaspoon sea salt
    • 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
    • 1 teaspoon garlic
    • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon ground corriander
    • 1/2 teaspoon dill
  • The Rest
    • 1 medium zucchini
    • 1 cup fresh arugula
    • 2 – 3 portobello mushrooms
    • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
    • 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil

Putting it All Together:

  1. Make the steak spice: combine all steak spice ingredients into a small dish and mix well.
  2. Add grapeseed oil into medium frying pan over medium-high heat, and mix steak spice into oil. Slice the portobello mushrooms into 1/2 inch wide pieces, and add to frying pan once it is pre-heated. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until most of the water has come out of the mushrooms, turning often. When mushrooms are half cooked, add sliced almonds to the pan to gently toast them.
  3. Make the dressing: combine all pesto dressing ingredients into a small food processor, and blend on medium speed until dressing is fully mixed and has a uniform consistency. Depending on ripeness of the avocado, add more olive oil or water, if necessary.
  4. Time to get out your fancy food spiralizer! Using the spiral attachment (obviously 😉 process whole zucchini. Note: if you do not have a food spiralizer, you can chose to use a vegetable peeler to create long noodle-like strips, or else opt to substitute with a non-gluten pasta noodle – try edamame bean or quinoa pasta noodles!
  5. Combine zucchini noodles and arugula and toss with dressing. Add the portobello almond mixture to the top of the salad.
  6. Top off with freshly squeezed lemon and/or basil leaves if you desire, and enjoy!