Thursday, August 20, 2009

Grilled Thai Beef Salad


Of all the Ellie Krieger recipes I've tried so far, this one is HANDS DOWN my favorite. Dare I say it? The perfect summer meal.

I modified the recipe a bit (as usual) - I added more veggies, used scallions instead of shallots, put a little sesame oil and rice vinegar in the marinade/dressing, and threw some rice noodles in to give it a bit more heft so it would be more of an entree type dish.

The original recipe is here.

And this is what I did:

Thai Beef Salad (adapted from Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger)

Gather:
1 pound top-round London broil or flank steak, about 1 to 1 1/2-inches thick
3 tablespoons lime juice, divided
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons minced ginger
1 1/4 teaspoons red curry paste
1/2 head green leaf lettuce (about 6 cups)
1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
1 large carrot, cut into matchsticks
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro leaves, rinsed and dried
1 cup basil leaves, sliced into ribbons
1 cup rice noodles

Make it:

Rinse and pat the meat dry. Place in a sealable plastic bag or small glass dish. In a medium bowl combine 1 tablespoon of the lime juice, soy sauce, canola oil, sesame oil, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and red curry paste. Pour half the mixture into the bag with the meat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice to the bag. Seal tightly, and marinate meat in refrigerator at least 4 hours or overnight, turning occasionally. Reserve the rest of the mixture refrigerated, to dress the salad.

Spray grill or grill pan with cooking spray and preheat. Grill steak until medium-rare, about 5 minutes per side, depending on desired doneness. Let rest until room temperature then slice thinly against the grain.

Soak rice noodles in boiling water till softened, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse thoroughly with cold water to halt cooking and bring noodle temperature down.

Combine lettuce, scallions, red pepper, carrots, rice noodles, cilantro, basil and beef in a salad bowl, reserving a few scallions for garnish. Add the reserved dressing and toss to coat. Divide salad among 4 plates and garnish with reserved sliced shallots.


A few notes:
- As always, USE FRESH GINGER. Store what you don't use in the freezer in an airtight container.
- Next time I make this, I may go a little lighter on the basil. It was a little overpowering for my taste.
- Cucumber would be lovely in this salad.

7 comments:

  1. Sounds SO yummy! I think I'll have to pick up the things to make it next week :)

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  2. I love the idea of rice noodles in this. Great adaptation!

    Sara/imafoodblog.com

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  3. It looks great, and I agree that it was a perfect summer meal.

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  4. Yes, it is the perfect summer meal....and I love the tomatoes!

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  5. Wow, that sounds great! How do you think the flavors work if you were to sub chicken for the beef? We're vegetarian, and I can find fake chicken, but not fake steak strips where we live.

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  6. I agree! This is a perfect summer salad. Thanks for cooking with me this week!

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  7. Karena - I was thinking chicken would be good in this recipe. For sure. And I BET you could grill tofu and call it good. I might have to try that!

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