Hanger Steak Salad with Chimichurri White Beans

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During the summer months, I lose my interest in food. I mean, not entirely. If that were the case I would have a full-blown identity crisis. But my appetite does tend to recede. It’s the humidity. My body rejects it. But as the old saying goes “you gotta eat”, so I choose to exist on salads. And while the word “salad” conjures images deprivation, putting the word “steak” in front of it totally changes the picture. Suddenly the meal sounds refreshing but decadent, cooling but satisfying – the opposite of austere. And today’s Hanger Steak Salad with Chimichurri White Beans definitely fits that description. This salad features a marinated, grilled hanger steak sliced and served on a bed of white beans soaked in a tangy and fiery Chimichurri dressing. This is such a good one, so let’s make it!

What I love about this recipe is most of the magic happens without you and far away from your stove. Exactly what you want when the humidex is off the charts. We’re going to kick things off by whisking up a marinade for the steak. Hanger steak doesn’t require a marinade. You can cook it with a bit of salt and pepper and be perfectly happy. But since the white beans need to be marinated, you might as well marinate the steak. It does make for a more tender flavourful steak anyway.

In a bowl whisk to combine garlic, Dijon mustard, finely chopped anchovy fillet, soy sauce, and olive oil. Essentially we’re making a big old bowl of umami. Add the steak and toss to coat. Cover and let chill for a minimum of three hours. Overnight is best, though.

With the steak off getting happy, let’s turn our attention to the beans. But before the actual beans enter the picture, we have a fair amount of chopping to get through. Finely chop parsley, oregano, and mint. Mince some garlic and finely dice a Shallot. And finally, thinly slice a few red chilies. Feel free to knock back the number of chilies you use. Heat tolerance is very personal. Add some olive oil, lime juice, salt, and red wine vinegar and whisk to combine. Congrats! You just made Chimichurri.

Now, I realize there are a lot of Chimichurri recipes online that come together in a food processor. You can absolutely go this route if you really hate chopping by hand. But I will say, the food processor does give the Chimichurri a more mulch-like consistency. Everything gets broken down a little too finely and it loses some of its brightness and texture. For this reason, I prefer to chop everything by hand. But again, if that doesn’t appeal to you, pop everything into a food processor. Just be sure to pulse rather than blitz it together. That will help you avoid over-processing.

Now that the Chimichurri is done, we can pile the white beans, cherry tomatoes, and cucumbers into a bowl. Pour the Chimichurri over the beans and toss to coat. Cover and place the salad in the fridge. Leave it to marinate alongside the steak, once again, for a minimum of 3 hours or overnight, and – you know what I’m going to say – overnight is preferable. This is what I mean when I say most of the magic happens without you and away from the stove. The beans and steak gain most of their flavor and personality while they sit in the fridge. I just love that.

When you’re ready for dinner, take the steak out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking. We want the meat to come up to room temperature before we introduce it to a screaming hot grill. Heat your grill until smoking and add the steak. Sear the steak on both sides and continue to cook until the meat registers an internal temperature of 120-125 F. Take the steak off of the heat and tent with foil. Let rest for 10 minutes. The internal temperature will continue to rise as it rests so by the time the meat hits the plate it should be sitting pretty at 130-135 F, which is rare to medium rare. You can cook it a little past this but I recommend being conservative. Hanger steak can become quite tough if it’s cooked much beyond medium.

When the rest time is over, transfer the steak to a cutting board and slice against the grain into thin slices. Pile the beans onto a platter and drape the steak slices on top. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and edible flowers if available. I went with oregano and sage blooms because that’s what I had in my garden.

And that’s everything you need to know about this Hanger Steak Salad with Chimichurri White Beans. A rich and decadent meal that still delivers refreshment and asks very little of you in terms of preparation. So basically, this salad is ideal.

Enjoy!