Easy Thai Beef Salad
by Jay Wadams
The ULTIMATE salad! This Easy Thai Beef Salad is packed with flavour. With juicy beef steak, fresh vegetables & fragrant herbs, the sweet and spicy Thai dressing is the secret ingredient in this mouthwatering dish.
Ingredients
for the dressing:
- 1 medium red chilli sliced
- small bunch coriander/cilantro leaves and stems separated
- 2 fat cloves garlic
- 45 ml lime juice
- 30 ml fish sauce
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp neutral oil sunflower etc.
- zest of 1 lime finely grated
for the salad:
- 400 g beef steak, eg. rump or sirloin at room temperature
- 2 tsp sunflower oil for frying
- 1 thin cucumber finely sliced or peeled into ribbons
- 250 g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 small red onion peeled and finely sliced
- 1 small cos or romaine lettuce leaves torn
- 3 Tbsp roasted peanuts finely diced
- small bunch of mint leaves only
- sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
optional:
- extra red chilli sliced
to serve:
- steamed jasmine or basmati rice
Scan the QR Code to view the online recipe with detailed instructions, photos, hints, tips and more at daysofjay.com
Instructions
- HEAT THE OVEN: Heat the oven to 120°C / 250°F / Gas 1.
- MAKE THE DRESSING: Prepare the dressing by grinding the chilli, coriander stems and garlic together in a mortar and pestle to a chunky paste. If you don’t have a good, solid mortar and pestle, you can use a small food processor, or cut the ingredients very finely.
- ADJUST SEASONING: Scrape the paste into a small mixing bowl, add the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, oil and lime zest then whisk well to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Set the dressing aside.
- COOK THE STEAKS: Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel, rub with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a large, heavy-based frying pan until a drop of water sizzles when dropped onto the surface. Add the steaks to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side (see note). Remove from the heat, lay the steaks on an ovenproof dish, cover loosely with tinfoil and place in the preheated oven for 5-10 minutes (see notes for guide).
- PREPARE THE SALAD: While the meat is resting, combine the cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion and lettuce in a large mixing bowl. Toss through two tablespoons of the dressing. When the beef has rested at least 5 minutes, slice thinly against the grain, add to the bowl that has the remaining dressing in it, along with any resting juices and stir well to coat.
- ARRANGE AND SERVE: Pile the salad onto a serving platter or two plates and top with the beef. Sprinkle over the peanuts and scatter over plenty of fresh coriander, mint and extra chilli (if using). Drizzle over all the remaining dressing and serve immediately with steamed rice.
Notes
STEAK COOKING TIMES: How cooked you like your steak is a personal preference. This recipe assumes you are using approx. 2 cm thick steaks resulting in medium-rare. If you are using thinner steaks they will need less time, thicker steaks will need more.
If you like your steaks cooked through, cook at least 3-4 minutes on each side and let rest in the oven for the full 10 minutes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 287kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 61mg | Sodium: 680mg | Potassium: 792mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1243IU | Vitamin C: 39mg | Calcium: 74mg | Iron: 3mg