Thai Steak Noodle Salad- and the cream of the crop...Yeahhhhhh

Blake and I went to Huston's for our anniversary in May, on the recommendation of a friend.  Blake got the best steak of his life, and I got the Thai Steak Noodle Salad.  It was the greatest.  I've been dreaming of it ever since.  I finally decided to look up a recipe and make it!  

via Savory-Bites

I found one at Savory-Bites , who adapted their recipe from another website and so on... Anyway, this ended up tasting a lot like the original.  This recipe is really easy, and I think it tastes just as good without the meat if your into that sort of thing. Or marinate some chicken in the salad dressing, and grill it- that would be good!  

I played around with the dressing a little.  My version serves 4, with some leftovers...so maybe it serves 6.

INGREDIENTS

·         Dressing

·         3 tablespoon lime juice

·         1.5 tablespoons fish sauce

·         2 tablespoon water

·         2 large clove garlic, minced

·         2 teaspoons Sriracha or similar chile paste (how spicy do you want it??? Add more!)

·         1.5 tablespoon light brown sugar
1   1/4 tablespoon creamy peanutbutter

·         2 tablespoon neutral flavored oil (like canola or grapeseed)

·         ***I wonder what this would taste like with coconut oil??  Probably pretty great.

·         Salad

·         1/2 pound skirt steak or flank steak, or a similar thin cut

·         2 ounces udon-like noodles, soaked until soft in boiling water, cut into pieces if very long, and chilled

·         3 large handfuls of spinach

·         1/2 a large head of cabbage- shredded

·         3 thinly-sliced radishes

·         The shavings of one small carrot (lol sounds like a potion)

·         1 cup diced mango

·         1/3 cup seeded, diced tomato

·         2 thinly-sliced scallions

·         3 tablespoons toasted, crushed peanuts

·         3/4 cup chopped cilantro

·         1/3 cup basil

  

     Directions  as written by Savory Bites

     Mix all of the dressing ingredients together. Set aside while you are preparing the salad.  **I do this on low, low heat on the stove, to melt the peanut butter a little.

     Season the beef with salt and pepper and sear in a hot skillet (preferably cast iron) for 2-3 minutes per side, or until medium rare. What I like to do is sear the whole entire thing on both sides and then transfer it onto a cutting board. Let it sit for a bit before slicing it into strips. At this point, the meat will still be too rare for consumption so return it back to the skillet for some more searing.

     Let the meat rest for a few minutes, then slice it and toss with 2-3 tablespoons of the dressing.  Then cook to your heart's content.

     Meanwhile, prepare the noodles. The key is to not overcook them or else the texture will just get really mushy. After, rinse the noodles in cold water. Mix the remaining salad ingredients (except the peanuts) in a large bowl, add dressing, and toss in the steak. Mix until everything is well coated. Serve on a plate and sprinkle with the chopped peanuts.

    This stuff is soooooooo good the next day,  I ate it for breakfast.