Friday, March 19, 2010

Cold Noodle Salad with Grilled Flank Steak

I adore noodles, especially the asian variety. Be it pad thai, pho, lo mein, or what ever else, I will absolutely gorge myself. So tasty. This recipe has been a work in progress for some time and after perfecting the dressing a few weeks ago, it has become one of my absolute favorite things to make (C's too!). It can also be turned into a vegan dish, just omit the beef!



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Ingredients
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Rice Noodles (amount should be based in the number of people.)
Baby spinach
Bean sprouts
Cabbage Mix
Red Onions
Flank Steak

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Rice noodles are amazing. They are super tasty, have a really nice texture and are very healthy.



Cook according to package directions (usually boil for 10 min or until done). Rice noodles are a little chewier than traditional pasta, so be careful not to over cook them, because they will get mushy.

Once they are cooked, drain and rinse with cold water. Run the cold water over them a little longer than normal. Doing this will chill them a bit - which makes this a "cold noodle" salad. Get it? Grab a big salad bowl and dump in the cold noodles.



Grab the veggies. You can use what ever veggies you like, but here's the stuff I like to use. Baby spinach, bean sprouts, cabbage mix (which is basically a mix for cole slaw that has green and red cabbage, carrots and broccoli all shredded realy fine) and thinly sliced red onions. Add how ever much or little you want into the bowl.



Now the best part. Grab a big meaty flank steak. Marinate it early in the day with a good asian flavored marinade - I use a store bought sesame ginger variety.



Grill the steak according to your preference. I usually grill med-rare, cause C is a carnivore and likes it a little bloody. Once it has cooked, let it rest for about 5 minutes.

A note on resting meat. It is a very important step when cooking steak or any other meat. Resting allows the juices to redistribute throughout and when you cut into it, you don't lose all that goodness that makes steak so yummy. So rest your meat. You will thank me.

After resting, slice the steak paper thin against the grain. This will yield a very soft and easily chewable piece. Take all that delicious juicy meat and plop it right on top of the veggies and noodles.



Now you can top it with Honey Ginger Lime dressing or any of your favorite asian sauces. After that, grab some chop sticks and dig in!

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