Steak Salad with Creamy Horseradish Dressing

I think having leftover steak around is a fantastic reason to make a salad or sandwich, preferably containing some kind of blue cheese. This salad seemed like a perfect option for a dreary winter week—it’s something I could imagine bringing on a picnic, but the ingredients are passable even in winter. We can probably all agree that tomatoes taste best in summer and that the ubiquitous pinkish, mealy supermarket variety should be avoided, but I find it difficult to go without tomatoes for nine months out of the year! Cherry tomatoes work for the non-summer months—even out of season they are pretty good—but if you’re making this salad in the summer, of course use the reddest, juiciest market tomatoes you can find. You can turn this recipe into a sandwich by stuffing the salad, less half the arugula and sans dressing, into a baguette spread with Dijon and horseradish mayonnaise.

ingredients

for the dressing

• 2 Tbsp crème fraîche
• 3 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp sherry vinegar
• 2 tsp prepared horseradish
• 1 pinch of salt and ground pepper

for the salad

• 8 oz baby arugula
• 8 to 10 oz leftover steak, sliced
• 4 oz Stilton cheese, at room temperature, crumbled
• 3/4 cup English walnuts, roasted
• 8 oz cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved

Serves 4

1. Make the dressing: combine all of the dressing ingredients in a small jar, cover and shake vigorously until smooth and creamy.
2. Assemble the salad: arrange arugula on a large platter, then add the other salad ingredients. Drizzle with about half of the dressing, serving the rest on the side.