Thai Beef Salad & Spring Green Soup

I have never used herbs in place of lettuce before, but that's essentially what this recipe does. Basil, mint and cilantro are the leafy greens here and they're delicious. I was tempted to put this on a bed of rice noodles, because I had trouble getting over the lack of salad-ness in this dish, but it was tasty as is. It was even better with the spring green soup I made with it. A crusty loaf of French bread would go quite nicely with this ensemble. 

Thai Beef Salad

Adapted from: http://biscuitsoftoday.com

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb of chuck or beef shoulder
• salt and pepper to season beef
• 2 T vegetable oil
• juice of 4 limes
• 2 T fish sauce
• 1 T brown sugar
• handful of cilantro leaves
• handful of basil leaves
• handful of mint leaves
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 red chilis chopped
• one small, red onion, sliced thinly

Method

Season beef well with salt and pepper and let it sit out of the fridge for 30 minutes. Place oil in a frying pan on medium heat and add the beef. Cook the beef for about 5 minutes on each side and remove from pan. Let it sit for about 20 minutes to allow to cool.

Combine the lime juice, fish sauce and sugar in a bowl, mixing until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and add the lime juice mixture, mixing well. Slice the beef thinly and add it to the salad, tossing it well. Serve immediately.

Spring Green Soup

Adapted From: http://www.wholeliving.com

Serves 6

Ingredients

• bunch of asparagus (preferably thin stalks), roughly chopped
• bunch of spinach with the stem removed
• 4 green onions, chopped roughly
• 1 cucumber
• 1 avocado
• 1/4 cup mint leaves
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1 t salt
• 2 cups of water
• dollops of sour cream for serving
• Freshly ground pepper

Method

Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling water for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Cut half of the cucumber in quartered slices and the remaining cucumber in eighths. Set aside the slices for garnishing your soup.

Place the asparagus in a blender with a 1/2 cup of cold water and blend until smooth. Add the cucumber eighths, green onions, spinach and another 1/2 cup of cold water and purée.  Throw in the avocado, lemon juice and mint leaves, the remaining water and.....blend until smooth!  Season with salt, pepper and serve with the cucumber slices and spoonfuls of sour cream.