This is a great way to use up Sunday’s leftover roast beef, and takes me back to balmy nights on the beach in Ko Phi Phi in no time at all.

If you don’t have any leftover beef, fry up a couple of bavette steaks, which are really good value and full of flavour. You eat with your eyes, so use a mixture of red, green and yellow tomatoes to make this salad even prettier. Don’t assume the kids won’t love it — add the chilli only to the plates that want it just before serving.

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients

FOR THE SALAD

  • 1 cucumber, sliced
  • 400g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 red onion, halved and finely sliced
  • Leaves from 1 bunch of coriander, roughly chopped, plus a few extra leaves to serve
  • Leaves from 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  • Leaves from 1 bunch of Thai basil, roughly chopped, plus a few large leaves to serve
  • 600g-800g leftover roast beef, or cooked steak, sliced
  • 2 tbsp chopped toasted peanuts

FOR THE DRESSING

  • 2 tbsp sesame oil
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped or crushed
  • Zest of ½ an unwaxed lime
  • 1 tsp peeled and very finely chopped or grated fresh root ginger
  • ¼-½ tsp stevia (sugar substitute), to taste
  • 2 tsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 1-2 red chillies, very finely chopped, to taste

01 Assemble all the ingredients for the salad — except the beef and peanuts — on a large flat platter.
02 Make the dressing simply by whisking the ingredients together until all the stevia has dissolved.
03 Taste and add extra chilli if you like a bit more heat, or extra stevia if you like a bit more sweetness.
04 Arrange the beef in slices on top of the salad and dress the platter evenly with the dressing. Garnish with warm, toasted peanuts and the coriander and Thai basil leaves to serve.