spicy beef and basil salad....

[mike_c]

I had a long day today and got home late. I'd been planning on using some leftover steak I had in the 'fridge for dinner-- I made carne asada tacos with a prime rib-eye last night (I mean SO?-- it's what I wanted). I still had half the steak left over, meltingly tender, sliced thin, medium rare. A joy to behold, but I wasn't sure what to do with it. I'd thought maybe I'd just throw it into a stir fry at the end, but like I said, I got home tired, didn't really feel like cooking and especially didn't feel like cleaning the kitchen afterward, so a quick survey of the refrigerator turned up some alternatives. This is what I did:

2 thai chilis, thinly sliced
a couple tablespoons rice vinegar
a couple teaspoons nuoc mam (fish sauce)

Mix chilis, vinegar, and nuoc mam. Set the mixture aside. Spread the meat out on a barely warm plate to warm to room temp. Open a bottle of wine, pour a glass, put some music on, and relax for 15 or 20 min. As I said, it's been a long day.


1/2 cup or so of thinly sliced grilled steak at room temp
1 head torn romaine lettuce (twist off and throw away the limp top bit)
a few slices from a head of napa cabbage (about 1/2 a cup or so, for crunch enhancement)
a good handful of torn fresh basil leaves
scant 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
a chunk of parmesano reggiano or similar hard grating cheese
1 clove garlic, lightly crushed
1 thin slice fresh ginger
salt and pepper
your choice of oil (I used a light hazelnut oil and added a few drops of chinese toasted sesame oil)
juice of 1/2 lime (I added this because the rice vinegar is milder than the vinegars I usually add to vinaigrettes)

Assemble the salad in the usual way. Rub a mixing bowl with the crushed garlic and ginger, then discard them. Add all the greens, 1/4 tsp or so salt, a generous grinding of black pepper, and the meat to the bowl and dress lightly with a few tbsp of the oil, tossing to coat everything. Add the chili-vinegar mixture and the lime juice, then toss to blend the vinaigrette. Grate on the cheese and toss to mix well. Sprinkle on the toasted pine nuts. Serve-- it makes a good dinner salad for one, and would combine with something else to serve two.

I wasn't trying to recreate anything in particular, but the recipe is obviously SE Asian inspired.

[Stinky The Clown]

1. mike, here's a similar one I posted a while ago ......

..... buried deep in another thread: Cold Beef Salad. Obviously Italian inspired. :)

[mike_c]

2. oh yeah, I remember that recipe....

Thanks for the pointer to it again-- I remembered reading it and wanting to try it, then losing track of it. It sounds excellent!

[eleny]

3. Okay, Mike...

I copied and pasted your recipe and now I want to save the file. What do I call it?

It's one I'll definitely make since I fix prime rib a few times a year and have meat left over. What a nice change up for the next evening's meal. Thanks so much for creating and sharing it!

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

4. Oh, after prime rib you have to make

hash. I do one a prime rib a few times a year. I don't really care for it-not much of a meat eater-but I love, love, love hash.

DH says that's sacriligious. lol.

[eleny]

5. Ooooops!

Feeling silly here. Mike posted the name in the subject header!

[mike_c]

6. lol-- it wasn't actually prime rib....

It was a rib eye steak. I just meant it was a PRIME specimen-- a really good steak. But this would be really good with prime rib roast, too. Or London broil, for that matter.