Simple wholesome ingredients come together to make something great in this steak salad with Plums and Balsamic Reduction.

I can honestly say that I haven't had a plum in several years. It isn't that I don't like plums, but after cooking low carb recipes for 9 years and limiting my fruit to low carb friends like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries, other fruit barely crosses my mind.
But the other day, as I was selecting fruit for my children, I saw some beautiful purple plums and thought, why not?
I believe this is the fourth steak salad I have posted in the last 5 months and I won't apologize for it. To me there is very little that rivals the flavor of a good steak -- it's completely satisfying. I love the smokey-salty sear on the outside and the firm tender-chew. It's substantial. It's real. To me, beef rules!
And plums are very nice - almost seductive in their tart - sweet juicy flavor and their color just knocks-me-down-sideways. Plums paired with a salty-smoky steak, the sweet tangy flavor of a balsamic reduction, and the salty nutty tang of Parmesan cheese became something great - which made me very happy.
And dressing? All the arugula needed was a little extra virgin olive oil and salt.
This Steak Salad with Plums and Balsamic Reduction is 8 net carbs per serving
NY Flank Steak Salad with Plums and Balsamic Reduction (Low Carb)
Ingredients
- 1 pound NY steak 16 oz / 450 g
- 4 ounces plum *** 110 grams
- 10 ounces arugula 10 oz / 280 grams
- 4 ounces shaved Parmesan cheese 110 grams, optional can replace with walnuts for dairy free
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar 2 ounces / 60 grams
- ¼ cup olive oil 2 ounces / 60 grams
- salt and pepper
Instructions
Preparation:
- Add the balsamic vinegar to a small sauce pan and simmer over medium to medium-low heat until it reduces to about 1 tablespoon. It will be thick and syrupy. Let it cool.
- Grill steak to taste. To see how to grill a steak, view this post. Let the steak rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
- Quarter the plum and then further slice each quarter into three slices.
- Run a vegetable peeler down the length of a piece of Parmesan cheese, making shavings. Weigh four ounces.
Assemble:
- Dress the arugula with the olive oil and divide among 4 plates. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Drizzle the balsamic reduction over the arugula, dividing it among the four plates - it is just a small amount but has a nice flavor. Add the Parmesan cheese shavings to each salad. Slice the steak and divide evenly among the four salads. Place three slices of plum per each salad and serve.***
Katie Crenshaw
I love the idea of adding the plums to this salad! I have seen so many beautiful plums at the Farmers Market and Grocery Stores lately. This is a great way to incorporate them. Thanks for the recipe and inspiration. Can't wait to give this recipe a try.
Kim
Thank you, Katie.I LOVE plums - they are such a gorgeous fruit. Enjoy the salad and have a nice week! - Kim
Erica
The salad looks wonderful and like a great way to incorporate a small amount of my favorite fruits. I was just curious though about the total carb count. We attempt to stay at a total carb count of approximately 20 g. When I plug this into my fitness pal with only 3 slices plum/salad I got a total carb of 12 g per serving, any idea where I May have gotten off? Basalmic vinegar has a high count it says and surprisingly the Parmesan too.
Kim
Hello, Erica. I, too, try to keep my net carbs around 20 a day. I was surprised that MyFitnessPal calculated the carbs in this recipe so high. I use a recipe program called MasterCook. I add all of the ingredients into the program and it calculates it for me (I use weights for most accurate calculations). Concerned, I added the ingredients into Fatsecret.com and got a net carb total of 8. I will change the recipe to reflect the 8 net carbs. Thanks so much for your comment and I don't mind recalculating carb counts - it's important to all of us. Have a nice week! -Kim