Thai Style Steak Salad

 

Thai Style Steak Salad

I apologize for being on a mini hiatus, but I was on a little personal vaca and went up to Portland and Seattle for about a week. My plan was to blog about this steak salad I made a few weeks ago, but as you can imagine, I was distracted by friends, good food, and the crisp Pacific Northwest air. Nothing rejuvenates my passion for food and cooking like a trip to one of the best foodie cities in the United States: Portland.

In Portland, I had the immense pleasure to visit Luce, which was voted to be the 4th best restaurant in the US by Bon Appétit Magazine two months ago. The restaurant is all about going back to the basics...simple recipes that have really good flavor. The appetizers are very small but only $2 each and meant to be shared, and their entrees don't go over $25, and if you are spending that much I'm pretty sure you're eating like a whole rabbit or something. I could go on about this restaurant to you, but I'll spare you the time and get right into my steak salad. I highly recommend this restaurant if you're with a small group of friends, a lover, or your boyfriend and his parents (which is what I did). Don't believe what you read on Yelp...some angry patrons claimed to have waited 3 hours before they saw anything to eat. We were told our wait would be an hour long, and after about ten minutes of waiting, we were seated and saw food about 15 minutes after that. So, I say to Yelp...LIES! Check your resources.

For the steak salad, I got the recipe from a Martha Stewart cookbook, but of course, you can find the original recipe online here.  I went to Whole Foods to get my boneless rib eye steak because when meat is such a main part of my dish, I like it to be fresh and hopefully local. My steak was incredibly expensive, so I don't recommend this to people who are on a budget, but I do have to admit that this steak was one of the best and softest I have ever eaten. In my life. It's a fairly simple recipe, and good if you don't feel like cooking a whole bunch but still want something fairly healthy and tasty.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 16 ounce boneless rib-eye steak (or TWO 8 ounce steaks, 3/4 inch thick)
 Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 to 4 carrots
1 medium head romaine lettuce, cut crosswise into 1 inch ribbons
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1 cup fresh bean sprouts (if you're into that kind of thing)
1/3 cup salted peanuts, chopped (I used chopped cashews)

Directions:

1. Make marinade: In a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, whisk together lime juice, soy sauce, sugar, red pepper flakes, and oil. Season steaks with salt and pepper; place in a baking dish. Pour 1/4 of marinade over steaks (reserve remaining marinade); turn steaks to coat. Let steaks marinate up to 30 minutes

2. In a large skillet, cook steak on medium-high heat, turning once, 5 to 7 minutes per side for medium-rare.

Transfer to a cutting board; tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest, 10 minutes. Slice steak across the grain into 1/4 inch thick slices; halve slices crosswise.

Transfer to a large bowl, and toss with reserved marinade

3. With a potato (or vegetable) peeler, cut carrots into long ribbons. Add to steak in bowl, along with lettuce and mint; toss to combine. Divide salad and top with steak. Sprinkle with bean sprouts and peanuts (or cashews) if desired