For salad option, ditch the greens

Like so many kids, my 8-year-old son is no fan of green vegetables. Or at least that’s what he moans any time I insist he force down yet more salad at dinner.

So I decided to create a salad he would love. A salad that didn’t immediately trigger eye rolls and complaints. It ended up being easier than I thought.

Step 1: Ditch the greens. I’m not saying the kid gets a free pass on having to eat leafy greens. But for this salad, we’d give them a break.

Step 2: Start with something he loves. For my boy that means steak. And since this is a cold salad, leftover steak from last night’s barbecue is just perfect.

Step 3: Pair it with something fresh, something that has some acid and sugar to cut through the meatiness. In this case, fresh mango. But strawberries, diced apples, even sliced peaches would work, too.

With the heavy lifting done, building the rest of the salad was simple. I diced radishes and red onion (super finely diced to make them less objectionable) and added some chopped cucumber (the one green vegetable he says is not offensive).

Dress it all with a simple yet robust blend of toasted sesame oil, rice vinegar and chili paste (or you could use any bottled vinaigrette), and we had a salad we all could love.

“That’s not a salad,” my son said as he sat down to my creation.

“Yes, it is.” So he tried some, albeit with a puzzled expression on his face.

“It’s good. But it’s not a salad.”

Whatever.

Chili Mango-Beef Salad

For the steak, I like to use bison because it is extremely lean and naturally organic. But any leftover cooked steak is easily substituted. The trick is to slice it as thinly as possible. The steak should have just a hint of chew in the salad; large hunks will be too tough.

Two 6-ounce bison or other steaks, cooked as desired and cooled

1 large mango, peeled, pitted and diced

1 medium cucumber, chopped

2 red or Easter egg radishes, finely minced

1/2 small red onion, finely minced

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 teaspoons garlic-chili paste (or substitute a dash or so of bottled hot sauce)

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

Slice the steaks crosswise against the grain into strips as thin as possible. Roughly chop the strips to create bite-size pieces.

In a large bowl, combine the steak, mango, cucumber, radishes and onion. Toss well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the vinegar, garlic-chili paste and sesame oil. Drizzle the dressing over the salad, then toss well. Season with salt and pepper.

Yield: 2 servings

Approximate nutrition per serving: 310 calories, 6 grams fat (1.5 grams saturated, 16 percent of total fat calories), 39 grams protein, 25 grams carbohydrate, 19 grams sugar, 105 milligrams cholesterol, 3 grams dietary fiber, 590 milligrams sodium.