Sweet Forbidden Black Rice and Spicy Flank Steak Salad

By Lauren Coleman • July 21, 2011 • 4 Comments

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Author Notes: Whenever I make flank steak I marinate it, it's one of those cuts where the texture improves with a little "sauce." I love a cold steak salad, some rice makes that wonderful flank texture, spicy sweet heat flavor all that much better.

This recipe can be made ahead of time and assembled before serving. - Lauren Coleman - Lauren Coleman

Food52 Review: This cold steak salad makes a lovely light summer dinner. After marinating and grilling, the steak is very tasty. I substituted a shallot in the marinade and added a green onion to to the salad. The thinly sliced steak is a perfect partner for the black rice salad, which is a nicely balanced mix of flavors and textures. Next time I make this I would increase the amount of Harissa and chili pepper to get the heat I was anticipating from the title. I would also add a generous amount of salt to the marinade. And I'm definitely looking forward to making it again! - monkeymom - monkeymom

Serves 3-4

Harissa and Brown sugar marinated flank steak

1/2 cup grapeseed or olive oil
The juice of one lemon
1 garlic clove (pressed or shredded on the microplane)
1 1/2 tablespoon Brown sugar (preferably organic)
1 teaspoon Harissa
1 whole red scallion sliced thinly
2 tablespoons cucumber juice
3 tablespoons thinly chopped chives for garnish
1 pound flank steak (bring room temperature befor grilling)

Forbidden Rice Salad

1 cup black forbidden rice
1 1/3 cup water (to boil)
3 handfuls mixed greens
1 whole cucumber diced seeds removed
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons oil
1 pinch kosher salt
1 pinch fresh ground pepper
1 pinch red chili flake
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

Whisk the lemon juice, garlic, brown sugar, harissa, scallion, cucumber juice and grapeseed oil together and pour over steak to marinate then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. You'll want to bring it up to room temperature before grilling so give it a half an hour to warm up before hand.
Boil the water and rice then cover and let simmer for 30 minutes. Once cooked fluff rice and remove to a bowl to chill (at least an hour), or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
to make the dressing whisk the rice vinegar, chili flake, salt, pepper and honey until incorporated then whisk in the grapeseed oil slowly.
generously salt the steak with kosher salt and on a piping hot grill or grill pan sear the flank steak on each side for 6 minutes flipping only once. When you remove from grill let the steak rest for at least 20 minutes to soak in it's own juices and also let it chill a bit.
Toss diced cucumber, red scallion, 3/4 of the rice and mixed greens in a bowl with 3 tablespoons of the dressing, tase, add more if needed.
Slice the flank steak very thin against the grain, serve next to or on top of the salad, garnish with chives.