SPONSORED CONTENT
Power Salads
Sourcing meat from Australia beefs up salads with a nutrient-rich, pasture-raised protein
SPONSORED CONTENT
Power Salads
Sourcing meat from Australia beefs up salads with a nutrient-rich, pasture-raised protein
By Flavor & The Menu
April 16, 2024
By Flavor & The Menu
April 16, 2024
Salads are enjoying the spotlight today, thanks to a fresh wave of creative innovation from chefs across the country. Recipe builds are getting a closer look, with careful attention paid to flavor building and meaningful storytelling. Salads have always carried the promise of a wholesome choice, but today, they’re upping their game, taking cues from the success of modern bowl builds with a mindful approach to flavor and texture.
Salads not only answer the call for nutrient-dense and fiber-rich vegetables, they can help deliver on the demand for protein. “With a salad you’re already 70 percent down the road for sustainability and health and wellness. Why not go further down the road and choose a protein that is sustainable, nutritious and delicious? That’s where Aussie beef comes in,” says Pam Smith, RDN, Founder of Orlando, Fla.-based Shaping America’s Plate, a menu/concept/flavor consultancy. “By sourcing high-quality protein, you’re giving your guest a salad that delivers on multiple need states, including personal wellness and sustainability.” Australian beef tells a rich story of sustainability and wholesomeness. The country’s boundless pasturelands make a perfect home for free-roaming cattle. Produced naturally, menuing Aussie beef provides a hard-to-beat advantage in the global marketplace.
Smith calls out two recipe builds that demonstrate the opportunity. “Today’s trend in salads sees a variety of color, flavor and texture, along with strategic use of unique ingredients,” she says. “Both salad builds illustrate how each element has its unique personality but works in harmony to create something signature. Mindfulness is key—if you garnish with microgreens, be sure to dress them. If you include grains, toast and/or dress them. Get flavor into each and every bite. Take these meaty salad builds as modern inspiration.”
AUSSIE GRASSFED BEEF STRIP AND SEA GREENS SALAD WITH TOGARASHI CRUNCH
Photo Credit: David Schwartz Photography In this entrée salad, Adam Moore, Chef/Founder of Flashpoint Innovation and Consulting Chef for Aussie Beef & Lamb, cleverly showcases sustainability while keeping craveability in the crosshairs. Aussie grassfed beef striploin takes center stage in the build’s sustainability story: Australian beef farmers use a variety of sustainable and regenerative measures to meet the goal of carbon neutral beef production by 2030. “With grassfed beef, you can taste the terroir,” says Moore. “This kind of product allows chefs to tell a good story, much like you would with wine.” He grills the steak over coconut briquettes for a clean burn. Hulled hemp hearts give the salad a plant-protein charge while helping the planet by boosting soil health. Moore features seaweed, the ocean’s natural filtration system, in his marinated seaweed salad with a kombu vinaigrette. A togarashi sorghum crunch serves double duty as a flavorful crunch and a calling card for sustainable ancient grains.
CHIMAYO CHILE GRASSFED AUSTRALIAN BEEF WITH A NEW MEXICO FARMHOUSE SALAD
Photo Credit: Carlos Garcia This modern entrée salad is both satiating and delicious. Dave Woolley, former Director of Culinary for Inspire Brands’ Buffalo Wild Wings, infuses the build with layers of flavor while shining a spotlight on sourcing. Aussie striploin is the star of the salad, seasoned with chimayo chile, garlic powder, black pepper and salt, then topped with butter, vacuum sealed and cooked sous vide for six hours. Woolley emphasizes the premium quality of the Australian grassfed beef. “The beef flavor is first and foremost. It’s also a super clean flavor and easy to add more depth to it from marination,” he says. The chimayo chile serves as a signature flavor in the build. “It’s inherently sweeter and more robust. Earthiness, nuttiness, sweetness and savory heat make it as elegant of a chile as you may find on the planet,” says Woolley. For the salad component, crisp gem lettuce is combined with radishes, toasted pine nuts, creamy avocado, delicate grapefruit supremes, a medley of yellow and red grape tomatoes, Persian cucumber slices and crumbled goat cheese. The salad’s tossed in a bright sherry vinaigrette.
The Aussie Meat Academy Wants YOU
Looking to turn inspiration into action? The Aussie Meat Academy helps build partnerships and foster collaborative innovation, designed to connect, educate and inspire foodservice chefs from all sectors of the industry to achieve success with Australian beef and lamb.
To inquire about a free Aussie Meat Academy session or ideation tailored for your team, email Sabina Kindler: [email protected]
Salads are enjoying the spotlight today, thanks to a fresh wave of creative innovation from chefs across the country. Recipe builds are getting a closer look, with careful attention paid to flavor building and meaningful storytelling. Salads have always carried the promise of a wholesome choice, but today, they’re upping their game, taking cues from the success of modern bowl builds with a mindful approach to flavor and texture.
Salads not only answer the call for nutrient-dense and fiber-rich vegetables, they can help deliver on the demand for protein. “With a salad you’re already 70 percent down the road for sustainability and health and wellness. Why not go further down the road and choose a protein that is sustainable, nutritious and delicious? That’s where Aussie beef comes in,” says Pam Smith, RDN, Founder of Orlando, Fla.-based Shaping America’s Plate, a menu/concept/flavor consultancy. “By sourcing high-quality protein, you’re giving your guest a salad that delivers on multiple need states, including personal wellness and sustainability.” Australian beef tells a rich story of sustainability and wholesomeness. The country’s boundless pasturelands make a perfect home for free-roaming cattle. Produced naturally, menuing Aussie beef provides a hard-to-beat advantage in the global marketplace.
Smith calls out two recipe builds that demonstrate the opportunity. “Today’s trend in salads sees a variety of color, flavor and texture, along with strategic use of unique ingredients,” she says. “Both salad builds illustrate how each element has its unique personality but works in harmony to create something signature. Mindfulness is key—if you garnish with microgreens, be sure to dress them. If you include grains, toast and/or dress them. Get flavor into each and every bite. Take these meaty salad builds as modern inspiration.”
AUSSIE GRASSFED BEEF STRIP AND SEA GREENS SALAD WITH TOGARASHI CRUNCH
Photo Credit: David Schwartz Photography In this entrée salad, Adam Moore, Chef/Founder of Flashpoint Innovation and Consulting Chef for Aussie Beef & Lamb, cleverly showcases sustainability while keeping craveability in the crosshairs. Aussie grassfed beef striploin takes center stage in the build’s sustainability story: Australian beef farmers use a variety of sustainable and regenerative measures to meet the goal of carbon neutral beef production by 2030. “With grassfed beef, you can taste the terroir,” says Moore. “This kind of product allows chefs to tell a good story, much like you would with wine.” He grills the steak over coconut briquettes for a clean burn. Hulled hemp hearts give the salad a plant-protein charge while helping the planet by boosting soil health. Moore features seaweed, the ocean’s natural filtration system, in his marinated seaweed salad with a kombu vinaigrette. A togarashi sorghum crunch serves double duty as a flavorful crunch and a calling card for sustainable ancient grains.
CHIMAYO CHILE GRASSFED AUSTRALIAN BEEF WITH A NEW MEXICO FARMHOUSE SALAD
Photo Credit: Carlos Garcia This modern entrée salad is both satiating and delicious. Dave Woolley, former Director of Culinary for Inspire Brands’ Buffalo Wild Wings, infuses the build with layers of flavor while shining a spotlight on sourcing. Aussie striploin is the star of the salad, seasoned with chimayo chile, garlic powder, black pepper and salt, then topped with butter, vacuum sealed and cooked sous vide for six hours. Woolley emphasizes the premium quality of the Australian grassfed beef. “The beef flavor is first and foremost. It’s also a super clean flavor and easy to add more depth to it from marination,” he says. The chimayo chile serves as a signature flavor in the build. “It’s inherently sweeter and more robust. Earthiness, nuttiness, sweetness and savory heat make it as elegant of a chile as you may find on the planet,” says Woolley. For the salad component, crisp gem lettuce is combined with radishes, toasted pine nuts, creamy avocado, delicate grapefruit supremes, a medley of yellow and red grape tomatoes, Persian cucumber slices and crumbled goat cheese. The salad’s tossed in a bright sherry vinaigrette.
The Aussie Meat Academy Wants YOU
Looking to turn inspiration into action? The Aussie Meat Academy helps build partnerships and foster collaborative innovation, designed to connect, educate and inspire foodservice chefs from all sectors of the industry to achieve success with Australian beef and lamb.
To inquire about a free Aussie Meat Academy session or ideation tailored for your team, email Sabina Kindler: [email protected]
