Mediterranean Spelt Salad With Steak, Charred Tomatoes and Feta

A salad made for seasonal transitions

Oct 04, 2023

∙ Paid

Before we get onto today’s recipe I have a question for y’all.

Some of you may know that, along with food, my professional background is in wine. I’ve been serving, selling and writing about the stuff for over a decade now.

So my question is, would you like to see some wine content in The Capsule Pantry?

I’d like to keep it within the boundaries of TCP’s mission, to be adaptable, flexible and not wasteful. The “Capsule Cellar”, perhaps? Flexible wine pairings? Lessons on how wine and food matching actually works so you can do it yourself according to your own taste?

I think it could be fun but I need to know what you think. Let me know:

Onto today.

I’ve become obsessed with spelt.

It’s

Domenica Marchetti

’s fault. She wrote so beautifully about farro a few weeks back— of which spelt is one type — that it inspired me to toddle off in search of it here in Porto.

I couldn’t find Italian Farro but I did find spelt. And I’ve gone through two packs in as many weeks.

Spelt, for want of a better, not-so-overused word, is a superfood. It’s an ancient type of grain which has a nutty flavour and texture. It’s one of those things that is incredibly good for you — much more so than modern wheat strains — but doesn’t feel like a chore to eat.

As I searched the internet to find a recipe worthy of more than just a quick lunch, I found this one for spelt with sirloin steak, artichoke hearts, bay leaves and feta.

When I got into the weeds of the recipe however, I found it to be slightly over-complex with competing flavours.

And I didn’t have access to half the ingredients.

But the nugget of the idea — protein, spelt, and accoutrements — was solid.

So I Capsule Pantried the hell out of it. I broke the recipe down into its key components and swapped them out for what I did have.

The result was good. Very good. A salad worthy of this late summer weather we’re having in Portugal, but would be perfect for cooler weather too.

Just how it should be in October.

Take a look at the original recipe here so you can follow along with how I break it down.

First, I broke the recipe down into its core components:

Protein — in this case, steak
Grain — that’s the spelt
Vegetables
Dressing
Aromatics and extras

I also thought about what certain ingredients are doing to balance the dish, like:

Nuttiness and texture from the spelt
Creaminess from the feta
Acid from the dressing

I’d already decided that the original recipe was too busy in terms of flavours. So I first thought about what direction I would like to take the dish. I went for a “Mediterranean” style. That meant lemons in the dressing instead of limes. Garlic. No spice.

There are other ways I could have gone here such as Thai (limes, coriander, lemongrass, soy), Greek (lemons, tomatoes, cucumber, oregano, mint) or Turkish (pomegranate molasses, parsley, pul biber chillies). I’ve suggested some variations on flavour profile underneath the recipe.

From that base of Mediterranean flavours, I made some big substitutions based on what I already had in my fridge. The result, based on the core components of the dish, became:

Protein — I kept the steak but didn’t bother with any rubs other than olive oil and salt.
Grain — spelt, of course, because that’s what I originally found the recipe for.
Vegetables — the baby leaf salad became arugula because it was in my fridge. The grilled artichoke hearts became charred cherry tomatoes.
Dressing — I simplified the dressing into a classic lemon, olive oil and herbs.
Aromatics and extras — I kept the feta but omitted the olives and bay leaves

These substitutions don’t damage the balance of the dish which is exactly what you’re looking for when making successful substitutions.

I’ve included extra variations underneath the final adapted recipe below to spark some ideas of your own.

Will you make this salad? What would you do with it if it was your kitchen? I’d love to know: