Spiced rib eye with quinoa and stinging nettle salad

By: Lyndey Milan
From: Taste of Australia
Serves: 4
Prep: 15 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins
Photographer: Stuart Scott

When I visited artist Arthur Boyd’s property, Bundanon, the education officer, Saskia Vrenegoor, brought me some stinging nettles. I always marvel that their sting disappears as soon as they are cooked. This recipe takes inspiration from the adjacent cattle farm and landscape.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
2 x 600g	beef rib eye steaks, on the bone
2 teaspoons	ground coriander
3 teaspoons	ground cumin
	salt
	freshly ground black pepper
125g	thick greek-style yoghurt
1 tablespoon	extra-virgin olive oil

Nettle and grain salad

Quantity	Ingredient
200g	quinoa
1 cup	stinging nettles
1 bunch	coriander, leaves roughly chopped
1 bunch	flat-leaf parsley, leaves roughly chopped
1 bunch	mint, leaves roughly chopped
1	eschalot, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons	pepitas, toasted
2 tablespoons	slivered almonds, toasted
2 tablespoons	pine nuts, toasted
75g	currants or sultanas
1	pomegranate, seeds of (optional)
	salt, to taste
	freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1	lemon, juiced and finely grated zest
60ml	extra-virgin olive oil

Method

For the nettle and grain salad, rinse the quinoa in water, drain and toast it in a small saucepan for a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add 500 ml water and cook according to the packet directions. Cover and cook over low heat until tender, approximately 15 minutes. In the last couple of minutes of cooking, add the stinging nettles, and cook, stirring until wilted. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
Rub the steaks with the ground coriander and 2 teaspoons of the cumin and season to taste. Set aside to absorb the flavours. Combine the remaining cumin with the yoghurt.
Mix the remaining salad ingredients, except the lemon juice and zest and oil, together in a large bowl. Add the quinoa and nettle mixture and season to taste with salt and pepper. Whisk together the lemon juice and zest and oil and dress the salad just prior to serving.
Heat a large frying pan over high heat and add the oil. Add the beef and cook for 5 minutes or until brown and crusted on one side. Turn and cover with a lid or foil and cook for a further 5 minutes or until brown, crusted and cooked as desired. Remove to a warm plate and cover loosely with foil to rest for 5–10 minutes.
To serve, carve the meat off the bones and then slice downwards to make thin slices. Divide the salad among four serving plates, surround with steak and top with the combined yoghurt and cumin.