Tag Archives: easy thai salad

I’m feeling good. A new yoga studio has opened up two minutes from my house and I am loving downward dogging it regularly again. I’ve been swimming at least every other day and on Wednesdays I practise Pilates with a friendly group of mums while our sons have soccer coaching next to us. I’m even getting to bed before midnight some nights.

Regular readers will know that I’m not usually a huge fan of exercising. My last gym visit ended up being my one and only gym visit for the year so this sudden emphasis on exercise is highly unusual for me. But I was tired of feeling tired and grumpy. Sure, I had good reason to be feeling low for a while — going through a divorce with kids is never fun no matter how amicable it is — but it’s time to move on and that means re-prioritising.

For the past 18 months my focus has been on my kids and my work, as it needed to be. But now it’s time to focus a little on myself, too, because I’ve realised that if I’m not feeling strong, happy and healthy, then we’re all in trouble.

So I’m making exercise a priority. I’m trying hard to go to bed at a reasonable hour a few nights a week. And I’m accepting invitations instead of turning them down.

I’m eating healthy, too. When I’m stressed I tend to reach for junk food but now I’m eating lots of salads, lots of protein, and lots of vegetables. This salad — Thai Beef Salad — is one of my ultimate healthy Summer meals, combining my loves of a good steak, salad and Thai flavours. Serve it alone as a light meal or with a tofu or seafood tom yum soup, a green curry and steamed rice for a more substantial Thai-themed meal.

Enjoy!

Christina xx

Thai Beef Salad

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bunch coriander, washed and separated into roots and leaves
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 inch fresh ginger (or 1 generous teaspoon minced ginger)
• 3 chillies (e.g. Birds Eyes chillies)
• 4 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• Juice of 1/2 lime or 1 generous tablespoon lime juice
• 500 grams top quality porterhouse steak, trimmed and cut into slices.
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 100 grams mixed lettuce leaves
• 1 bunch mint
• 1 red (Spanish) onion
• 2 Lebanese cucumbers, seeds removed and sliced
• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes

METHOD

1. Use a blender to chop coriander roots, garlic, ginger, chillies, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice until well combined.
2. Reserve half of this mixture to use as dressing and use the other half to marinade the beef strips for 30 minutes.
3. After 30 minutes heat up a large fry pan and add one tablespoon of vegetable oil. Fry the beef strips for a few minutes and then turn off the heat just before the meat is done to your liking – I like mine medium. Remove the pan from the heat and let the beef cool in the pan. Reserve the pan juices.
4. Arrange the reserved coriander leaves, lettuce leaves, mint, cucumber, onion, tomatoes and beef on a large platter.
5. Mix the pan juices into the dressing and then spoon the dressing over the salad and mix well.

NOTES

1. Gluten, nut and dairy-free.
2. Serves 2-3 as main, 4-6 as a side dish and 8-10 as part of a banquet.

More Easy Summer Recipes

• Duck, Orange and Pomegranate Salad
• Lamb with Pomegranate, Mint and Broad Beans
• Thai Prawn Salad
• Two Spring Salads: Radish  Salad / Beetroot, Grapefruit and Avocado Salad
• Blood Orange and Pomegranate Salad
• Tomato and Bocconcini Salad
• Fig, Prosciutto and Pear Salad
• Beetroot, Walnut and Mint Salad
• Fiery Vietnamese Chicken Salad

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I had this argument with my husband a few years ago.

“There are so many things about you that just drive me crazy,” he began.

“For instance, you never shut the refrigerator door properly; you never check that it’s closed. If we were on a space mission to the moon we’d all be dead because right after take-off you would have gone to the fridge for a drink and not shut the door properly behind you. The extra energy the fridge used trying to keep the drinks cold would cause a drain on the whole guidance system and the ship would crash. And we’d all be dead,” he said crossly.

I was nonplussed but only for a moment.

“Well, if we were on a space mission to the moon, we’d be dead before we even left the ground,” I shot back.

“Yeah? How so?” he asked.

“After visiting the toilet you would have washed your hand and left the taps dripping. The water would have flooded the decks and we’d all have been electrocuted,” I said triumphantly.

“I don’t leave taps running,” he said.

“Yes, you do. I’ve had to turn them off at least half a dozen times in the past week.”

“That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is.”

“Is not.”

“Is so.”

“Is not.”

“Hand on my heart, on our daughter’s life, it is true,” I said.

Silence.

“Well, there must be something wrong with the taps because I always make sure I turn them off properly,” he sulked.

“So when you do something wrong, there’s something wrong with the equipment but when I leave the fridge door open it’s just me being careless?” I asked sarcastically.

“Yes!” he yelled.

Sadly, Mr Hungry Australian and I are now getting a divorce. Not because of the fridge door or the taps although that would have made a great story. Jokes aside, I am thankful that we are now at the stage where we can share a chuckle about the crazy things we used to fight about.

My ex and I also share a love for Thai food; this dish is inspired by all the lovely seafood salads we ate on our honeymoon in Koh Samui. It’s perfect for a shared appetizer or you could serve it as part of a Thai-inspired meal. I hope you enjoy it.

Now it’s over to you. What’s the craziest argument you’ve ever had with a loved one? 

Prawn Lettuce Cups with Thai Dressing

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cake rice noodles
• 2 mini Cos lettuces (you’ll need 12 of the best looking inner leaves)
• 1 dozen King prawns (jumbo shrimp), cooked, deheaded and shelled (leave tail on)
• 1 mango, peeled, stoned and diced
• 1/2 large capsicum, cored and diced
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• A few spring mint (12 leaves or tips of leaves)
• A few springs coriander (12 small pieces)
• 1 tablespoon fried shallots
• 1 tablespoon crushed peanuts (optional)
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 Birds Eye chilli, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon diced red onion or finely grated carrot

METHOD

• Cook rice noodles as per packet instructions and drain.
• Wash and dry cos lettuce leaves and arrange attractively on plate.
• Place a portion of cooked noodles on top of each leaf.
• Sprinkle over mango, capsicum and red onion.
• Place prawn on top of each leaf and garnish with mint, coriander and dried shallots.
• Make dressing by mixing rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, sweet chilli sauce, lime juice, water, chilli and onions/carrot.
• Serve dressing with a spoon so people can spoon over lettuce cup just before eating.
• Lettuce cups are most easily eaten when partly rolled.

Dietary notes: gluten-free, meat-free, dairy-free & nut-free. Certainly not flavour-free though.