Easy Dinners - Steak Salad, Asian-Style

 

I’m willing to bet that most of us are looking for a couple of good salad recipes, what with swimsuit season right around the corner and all. Yikes. Here’s a super-easy, super-healthy, not-boring salad that I hope you all will enjoy.

 

 

Ingredients

 

Skirt steak, or other steak of your choice

Reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce

Rice vinegar

2” piece of fresh ginger

Several garlic cloves

Lime juice

Olive Oil

 

1 bag salad mix, or freshly washed lettuce

Tomatoes

Red Cabbage, thinly sliced

Any other veggies you’d like in your salad

Fresh corn on the cob

 

Remove the visible fat and membrane from the skirt steak. Place in a shallow dish like a pie plate, and douse liberally with tamari or soy, rice vinegar, grated fresh ginger (I just use the cheese grater), and chopped garlic. Drizzle with a tiny amount of olive oil, mostly to keep your meat from sticking to the grill. Squeeze a little lime juice also, if you would like. Mix around until it’s coated well, and marinate for an hour, or more.

 

 

I didn’t realize until after I got home from the store that I had lemons, not limes at home, so I just used the lemon. It turned out fine.

 

Have you tried tamari before? I find it to be so much smoother than soy, and lacking the bitterness that some soy sauces have. It’s just as healthful as soy, too. And rice vinegar is a mild alternative to white vinegar. Both of these are available at almost every grocery store now.

 

 

While marinating the steak, mix up a little salad dressing. You can doctor up some basic olive oil and vinegar salad dressing or make your own from scratch. I use olive oil, rice vinegar, soy, grated ginger, and lime juice as a base for the dressing. Shake it up in a jar and go! Maurie loves peanut dressing so I whisk some peanut butter into a small amount of the basic dressing for him. I like mine with a little sweetness, so I add a teaspoon of sugar, or honey, for myself. If you’re using premade dressing, try adding a teaspoon of tamari or soy and some grated ginger, and then adjust to suit your taste buds. Sounds like a lot of ingredients, I know, but you can mix this up in a flash, honestly. I keep the peanut dressing in a jar in the fridge now, so my hubby can pour it on anything he likes.

 

Wash your lettuce and tomatoes, and slice up some red cabbage. Toss it all together and keep in the fridge while you’re cooking.

 

If you have fresh corn, clean it, and snap the ears in half. Steam in 1” of water, in a single layer, in a large pot for 4 – 5 minutes. For frozen, follow the directions on the bag.

 

Here’s how we cook the skirt steak: Get your (gas) grill smokin’ hot. Put your steak on the grill plates and then immediately reduce the heat. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes for medium rare. Turn over, and cook for 3 more minutes. If your steak is extra-thick, add a little cooking time. If you want it more well-done, cook longer. You’ll just have to practice, based on the cut of meat and the heat of your grill. We like ours pretty rare, but we always cut a piece off the thinner end to cook a minute longer for Abby, because she likes her steak more well-done. Remember also that the meat will continue to cook a little more while it’s resting. Let it do that for 5 or 6 minutes after you take it off of the grill.

 

 

Let me show you how I slice the skirt steak –

 

 

Slice a 3”piece off the end of the skirt steak. Turn it 90 degrees and make thin slices against, not with, the grain of the meat. You’ll end up with tender slices of beef and not stringy, hard to chew slices like you would get if you cut with the grain.

 

 

Now drizzle some dressing on your salad, top the salad with the steak and drizzle a little more. Yum. Yum. Yum.

 

 

And once again, this dinner cost only about $14. The steak was $9 and the vegetables (mostly organic) about $5. You can’t even get drive-thru food for that! Aside from the marinating time, we made this in about 20 minutes. Had it for dinner and lunch the next day. Takes every excuse away, doesn’t it?

 

 

Now we can all fit into our swimsuits together.

 

xo, Andrea

Comments

[Grill Parts Store]

Very tasty looking!
I think we'll be having Steak Salad for Mother's Day!

Thanks for a great recipe.