As the highest peak in Africa rising 5895m above sea level and standing alone in the Tanzanian Savannah, Mt Kilimanjaro is technically not as challenging as when climbing the high peaks of the Himalayas or Andes, but the altitude, low temperature, and occasional high winds make this a difficult and dangerous trek.

So, how do you tackle a mountain the magnitude of Kilimanjaro? Well, if you ask Noelene Evans, a
local Albany business woman and fund raiser for the Grey Man, its one step at a time, one slow step at
a time! Download her story here.

created by Nicole Boccamazzo

Soba Noodle Salad with Beef and Sesame by Nicole BoccamazzoThis is a refreshing and surprisingly light summer salad loaded with Japanese flavours...and the best bit...it not only tastes great...it’s good for you too!

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

1. Heat your barbeque or pan till it’s very hot. Season the steak with cracked pepper and garlic salt. Place on the hot plate and sear for about 3 – 5 minutes each side. There’s no need to use any oil or butter as you want the steak to have a lovely char grilled flavour...also great for cutting out the fat content too. Put the steak to the side to rest, allowing it to cool.
2. Place Shitake` Mushrooms in a bowl and fill with boiling water. Soak mushrooms for 30 minutes.
3. In the meantime, cook the Soba noodles in boiling water for 4 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water. Set the noodles aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
4. Slice the spring onions, red capsicum and snow peas diagonally – why diagonally? No reason really, just makes the vegies look pretty.
5. Slice the radishes julienne style so they look like little radish sticks
6. Roughly slice the mint
7. Place sesame seeds on a flat tray lined with baking paper and place into a pre heated oven on 180°C degrees (170°C fan forced) for about 5 – 7 minutes until golden brown. Keep an eye on them as once the oil in the seeds heats up; they brown super quick and burn easily.
8. To make the dressing, place the teriyaki sauce, sweet chilli sauce, lime juice, olive oil and sugar into a jug. Slice the ginger and chop the garlic and parsley. Add these ingredients to the jug and stir well.
9. Now comes the fun part:
   
   Place your Soba noodles into a large, and I mean LARGE bowl! Drain the shitake` mushrooms and add to the noodles together with all of your beautifully sliced veggies and snow pea sprouts. Add the dressing and mix the salad together well. I use tongs or two large forks and try to mix it all gently so that the noodles don’t break into little pieces. Chill in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
10. Slice the steak into thin slices cutting across the grain on an angle for extra tenderness and glamour lol 
    
    (TIP: An electric knife does a great job of this step). The steak can also be placed into the fridge until you’re ready to serve the salad.
11. To serve just place the noodle salad in the centre of the plate and sprinkle a small handful of bean sprouts over the salad if desired. Fan out pieces of the steak over the sprouts and sprinkle with the toasted sesame seeds. Now your salad is dressed to impress and you’re done...enjoy. :)

Serves 5 to 6 People

TASTY TIPS

1. Use good steak if you can such as Rump, Scotch or even Fillet. There are some awesome specials for fillet steak around Albany at the moment. I was able to buy the fillet steak I used for this recipe even cheaper than Rump.
2. You can substitute some of the olive oil with sesame seed oil to your taste if you wish, but be careful as sesame seed oil can have a strong taste.
3. Use left over steak or cook extra steak next time you have a barbeque. We barbequed extra steak the night before and used that for this recipe. It turns out perfectly well and saved heaps of time by cutting out an extra step. Just slice up your steak, cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. If you hold your knife at a 45° angle when you slice your pieces of steak, it can make the pieces look bigger and go further...just a little trick but don’t tell my family lol
5. If you don’t have 5 or 6 people to feed you can save any left over noodle salad for a healthy and cheap lunch the next day or even as a small side dish with a piece of fish or chicken for dinner the next night. Just store your steak separately from the salad if you want to use it for another main meal with a different meat.

 ENJOY!