international flavors and cooking mistakes

i wanted to make a bunch of things i hadn't made in a while and figured i'd toss it all into a meal and see how things ended up. the good news is that the food while from many different areas worked out great together. i made critical mistake i normally rarely make.

the menu:

• arugula salad with balsamic vinegar sauteed plums, roasted cashews, ricotta cheese in a lime honey vinaigrette
  
• garlic and olive oil for the chimichurri sauce
  
• argentinean skirt steak & basmati rice with onions and rose hips

the mistake was that i overseasoned. i put too much salt on the steak and the chimichurri sauce. and while they weren't impossible to eat, they were too much for what i would have liked and limited my (and my roommates') enjoyment of the dishes.

arugula salad with balsamic vinegar sauteed plums, roasted cashews,

ricotta cheese in a lime honey vinaigrette

overall the salad was the best dish. the plums were sauteed early with the balsamic while the cashews roasted in a pan on the side. the lime honey dressing could have used a little more honey, it was pretty tart but the sweetness of the plums, the richness of the cheese and the saltiness of the nuts needed some acidity to balance it out. otherwise the salad would feel too heavy.

garlic and olive oil for the chimichurri sauce

i forgot to take a photo of the sauce, but this was the first stage. while i tasted it several times during it's creation, the last stage i put too much salt in without thinking and only then realized after tasting it that it was too salty.

argentinean skirt steak &

basmati rice with onions and rose hips

the steak was cooked medium/medium rare. but i normally salt them and let them sit so the salt can be pulled into the meat through reverse osmosis, but i let them sit too long. i was thinking of a ribeye instead of skirt steak. (since the skirt steak is thinner, it doesn't' need as much time). the rice was fine and had moistness from the onions and a hint of the rose hips.