Spicy Thai Steak Salad

Jenny is in perpetual search for easy, weeknight recipes to attempt to feed her family. When they balk, she just eats more.

Today: A weeknight dinner that's down to wait -- and gets better as it does.

 

Do you know what the best part of the ballet is? Not having to go. Sorry to all you toe shoe lovers out there but that ballet -- along with the opera and action movies --  Jenny does not do. But I DO cook for the rest of the family headed to the Kennedy Center, a fast and delicious one-bowl meal with a nod to Thailand. The key to Spicy Thai Steak Salad is really the part after the meal is cooked, as the flavors develop in the dish. 

It's weird to cook steak without seasoning it, but the author knows what she is doing here; the sauce has a ton of seasoning. If you don't have or want to use a fresh chili, add a dash of hot sauce to your paste instead. Someone might get mad at me for saying that, but you really can. I sautéed  my onions in olive oil first, because I don't like the texture of raw onions, then dumped the rest of the sauce on top of them in the pan. Let the meat sit in the pan juice for a while. I served it over jasmine rice. 

Spicy Thai Steak Salad by Merav

Serves 4

1 pound steak (flank, top sirloin)
1 to 2 fresh red chilies (bird's eye preferred)
3 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 packet chives, sliced into 1-inch lengths
1 handful cilantro, roughly chopped

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photo by James Ransom