What a Good Day Looks Like

Yesterday, something amazing happened-- I woke up in my own bed!  I had a busy (but not overwhelmingly so) and productive day at work. I worked out. I made dinner (more on that in a minute). And I watched Glee.

It was a good day.

I decided to give myself a little bit of time to ease back into full blown cooking mode by making an easy dish that also happens to be a tried and true favorite—Thai Beef Salad.  This salad is something that Jason and I have made numerous times over the years; it is so familiar I barely need the recipe anymore!

You start by making a marinade/dressing from lime juice, soy sauce, canola oil, brown sugar, fresh ginger, and garlic-chili paste. Half of the mixture is poured over London broil which is then set aside to marinate for a couple of hours. The other half is reserved to be used as a salad dressing. It is a really flavorful mix that has just the right combination of salty, sweet, and spicy (if you like that sort of thing which we definitely do).

The salad part is even easier--- salad greens are tossed with fresh basil, cilantro, shallots and the reserved dressing.  In the past I have also included red or yellow pepper which can be a nice addition if you feel like jazzing things up. But it is pretty darn good on its own. Try it….I’ll bet you like it :)

Thai Beef Salad
Adapted from Ellie Krieger

Ingredients:
1 (1lb) piece of London broil (could also use flank steak)
3 TBL lime juice
3 TBL low-sodium soy sauce
3 TBL canola oil
2 TBL firmly packed brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons minced or ground fresh ginger (since we make this salad fairly often, I tend to buy a jar of ground fresh ginger and keep it in the fridge—you can find it in the produce section).
1 ¼ teaspoons garlic-chili sauce (more or less depending on how spicy you like it)
Salad greens
1-2 shallots, thinly sliced (quantity depends on size…I had an enormous one yesterday so only used one)
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup fresh basil leaves, sliced into ribbons

1.Make the marinade/dressing. Combine lime juice, soy sauce, canola oil, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic-chili sauce together in a small bowl. Place meat in a sealable bag and add half the mixture to the bag. Seal bag and marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour (the longer the better—you could even do overnight). Cover the remaining mixture and stick in the fridge for later.
2.Preheat the oven to broil and line the bottom of the broiling tray with aluminum foil (it will help with clean up).  Place meat on the grated top of the broiling tray and broil about 8 minutes per side for medium (for medium rare, the recipe suggests 5 minutes per side; if you want it more like medium-well I’d go with 10 minutes). Let the meat rest for about 5 minutes and then slice thinly.
3.While the meat is cooking, combine the lettuce, shallots, cilantro and basil in a large bowl. Add the reserved dressing and toss to coat. Top with beef and serve.