Thai Beef Salad

I still haven't been in much of a mood for eating or blogging, but I'm starting to pull out of it. J has been helping with that, taking over a lot of the dinner duties. One thing I did crave over the past few weeks was this beef salad. It's easy to put together, very flavorful, and healthy. Oranges are in season right now, so they tasted especially sweet. The citrus from them paired well with the beef.

I used a mixture of soy sauce and fish sauce, to cut down on the saltiness. A side of rice rounded out the dish.

Thai Beef Salad

adapted from Eating Well, September/October 1991

as seen on foodnetwork.com

1 1/2 Tbs fish sauce

1 1/2 Tbs reduced sodium soy sauce

3 Tbs brown sugar

3 c shredded lettuce

1 Tbs canola oil, divided

1 lb sirloin steak, trimmed of fat and sliced thinly

1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and sliced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 oranges, peeled

1/4 c fresh mint and cilantro, chopped

1 tomato, cut into chunks

1/2 medium cucumber, sliced into rounds

2 Tbs chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Stir together fish sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Set aside.

Arrange lettuce on a platter. Roughly chop one of the oranges. Slice the other orange, or peel into segments.

Heat 2 tsp oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Stir-fry beef, in batches, until just browned on the outside and pink on the inside. Spoon over lettuce.

Add remaining 1 tsp oil to the pan. Cook jalepeno, onion, and garlic, stirring until softened. Add fish sauce mixture and bring to a boil, stirring. Remove from heat and stir in chopped orange, cilantro, and tomato. Spoon over the lettuce and beef. Sprinkle peanuts over the top. Garnish with orange slices and cucumber slices. Serve warm.