Roast Beef Salad with Creamy Horseradish, Red Onions & Walnuts

Serves: 3-4
Prep: 24 hours, 20 mins active
Cook: 1 hr
T = Tablespoon
t = teaspoon 

 

Roast Beef
2 -3 pounds Diamond Mountain Rump Roast
3 Large garlic cloves**; sliced
1 Bay Leaf; minced
2 Fresh rosemary sprigs; minced
3 Fresh thyme sprigs; minced
1 T coarse sea salt
1 T high temp cooking oil; avocado, safflower, grapeseed
1 t olive oil
2 cups water or beef broth***
1 T fresh cracked black pepper; set aside
 

1 medium yellow onion; sliced 

 

Salad
1 bag spring mix; about 4 cups
1/2 red onion; thinly sliced
1/2 cup walnut pieces, toasted. 

Creamy Horseradish
1 T mayonnaise, plant-based mayonnaise, sour cream or plain yogurt
2 T prepared deli-style horseradish****
2 T apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
2 t fresh cracked black pepper 

You'll need:
Pairing knife
Chef’s Knife
Cutting Board
Deep Roasting Pan, or any oven safe dish that's deeper than a baking sheet.
Wire Rack*
Meat Thermometer
1 small bowl
1 med bowl
1 large bowl
Whisk
Plastic Wrap, ziplock or air tight container 

 

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Roast Beef

• Place oven rack in lower third of oven. You may need to remove a rack to make room.
• Preheat oven to 500℉+; as hot as you can go.

• Mince bay leaf, rosemary and thyme well. 
• Combine them all into a pile and run your knife through to make a uniform mixture.  
• Place in small bowl with salt and both oils
• Stir to make a loose paste and set aside

• Slice garlic into 9-12 slices.
• Using the pairing knife, evenly distribute slits on all surfaces of the roast.  Hold your longest garlic slice up to the knife blade and measure for the appropriate depth. You need the slices to be fully hidden into the roast. Make as many slits as you have garlic slices.
• Place roast into the bowl with herb mixture and cover the entire roast generously.
• Place wire rack on top of the roasting pan.
• Place sliced yellow onion in a wide pile in the center of the wire rack and place roast on top. 
• Fill roasting pan with 2 cups water or beef broth.***
• Place into preheated oven and close door.
• Immediately turn oven temperature down to 400℉.
• Cook for approximately 1 hour.  Times will vary.  Cook until internal temperature of the thickest portion of the roast reads 125-130℉.
• Remove from oven and sprinkle with reserved black pepper.
• Let rest until cooled. No longer than 2 hours.  
• Once fully cooled, wrap tightly in plastic wrap or place in ziplock bag or air tight container with as much air removed as possible. 
• Let rest in refrigerator overnight.  Not vital but makes thin slicing easier and slightly more tender.

 
Creamy Horseradish Dressing

• Combine mayo, horseradish, apple cider vinegar and black pepper into the small bowl and whisk well to combine.
• Can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator.

 

Salad Stuff

Walnuts

• toss walnut pieces in 1/8 t of high temp oil.  Err on the side of less oil.
• place on small sheet tray or sauce pan and place in oven as it is preheating.
• toast for 5-7 mins but keep an eye on them as they can go from toasted to burned quickly.
• If toasting after your roast is cooked and cooled, toss them in a small sauté pan over medium heat until you can start to smell them and they change from a light to darker brown.
• Remove to paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper. 

Red Onions

• remove both ends from the onion and place cut side down on a cutting board and cut in half.
• place 1/2 the onion flat side down and cut into salad slices:  Starting at one end and holding your knife at a flat angle (about 5º), make thin slices, working your way to the middle of the onion, steepening your knife angle to 90º.  Turn the onion and repeat with the rest of the 1/2.  
• This method is entirely for presentation. If you don’t care about things like that, just slice it thin.
• Store in an airtight container until you build your salad.
    

 

Build Your Salad

• Remove roast from fridge and allow to lose it's chill.  About 15 mins.
• Cut the roast in half and begin slicing as thinly as you can from the cut side out.  Don’t worry about getting whole slices, aim for thin. Set aside.
• Place a couple spoon fulls of dressing in the bottom of a large bowl and spread around.
• Put your spring mix into the bowl and drizzle another couple of spoonfuls on top.
• Mix to dress. You want all the greens coated but not so much that it weighs them down. You can always add more.
• Transfer dressed greens to wide bowls or plates and top with red onions and walnuts and shake the bowl a little to let them settle.
• Place a neat layer or pile of roast beef oil the middle with a few more onions on top.
• Serve.

 

*  If you don’t have a wire rack, you can place the roast directly on the oven rack with the roasting pan on a rack directly below (in the lowest rack position).  Yes, you will have a large oven rack to clean, but allowing the hot air to circulate around the entire roast will be worth it.  If you go this route, place the onions in the roasting pan with the water or stock.
**  If you have the time and want to step your game up, roast your garlic before you stuff them into the roast.

• Cut two sheets of  aluminum foil into 12x12 sheets, one on top of the other and form them into a shallow cup.
• Place garlic, a pinch of salt, pinch of black pepper and a pinch of sugar on top and drizzle with oil.
• Bring edges together and seal tightly.
• Roast in oven at 400℉ for 10-15 mins.
• Remove from foil and set aside. Cloves should be soft and whole, not mushy.
• Make a whole bulb’s worth and store in the fridge to use in all sorts of things.

*** This roast isn’t just for salads. Use the left over slices to make a sandwich or make a roast beef dinner with roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes & gravy:

• Instead of adding water to the roasting pan, use beef broth while roasting. After you remove the whole contraption from the oven, scrape any burned bits off the pan and reserve the remaining broth.  If most of the liquid has evaporated, add 1 cup of hot water and a 1/4 cup of red wine and scrape all the good bits loose.  Reserve this.
• Remove from oven and let rest for 30 mins and cut into 1/2’ slices.
• In a medium sauté pan, melt 1 T of butter then add 1 T of AP flour and whisk until all the flour is incorporated into the butter.  You’ve made a roux.
• Constantly stir and scrape until the roux  until it becomes a light brown.
• Add the reserved broth/wine mixture.
• Add sprig of thyme and a whole but smashed garlic clove.
• Simmer and reduce until the gravy will coat the back of a metal spoon.  Remove thyme and garlic and keep warm.  If you want smooth, glossy gravy, pour through a fine mesh strainer.

****  Fresh horseradish can be used instead of the prepared deli horseradish.  If will certainly be spicer, so increase the amount of base (mayo, sour cream, yogurt) you use.