Thai Beef and Mushroom Salad (Yam Nua Yang)

This recipe is adapted from the superb (and all too quickly out-of-print) "The Ultimate Thai and Asian Cookbook", which I have found used on Amazon for $2.22. We have been swamped with kidding season (finally over) and planting season (now onto weeding!) and this quick and super-delicious and it fits the qualification as a SuperFood (mushroom, cilantro, garlic, chiles, and pretty much everything here is good for you).

This meal is perfect for us right now - heavy on salad, lots of great no fat "dressing" to drizzle over top of it, and an easily marinated slice of "Burgess", our quarter of an Angus cow from LongLesson Farm. These feeds four comfortably - just go heavy on the salad and get some awesome fruit or veg sides to round it out.

Ingredients

1. Meat

• 1.5 lbs of round steak
• 2 Tbsp of lime juice
• 2 Tbsp of fish sauce
• 2 Tbsp of olive oil
• 2 small chiles (Serrano are a good choice here)
• 8 ounces of Shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced

2. Dressing

• 3 scallions, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp of lime juice
• 2 Tbsp of fish sauce
• 1 tsp of brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp of cilantro, chopped

3. Salad Fixin's

• 1 (or 2) heads of romaine lettuce, coarsely chopped
• handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 of a cucumber, peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced long-ways
• 3 Tbsp of toasted sesame seeds

Steps

1. Marinate the round steak with the fish sauce and lime juice for 2-4 hours.
2. Preheat the broiler (or grill!) to high heat - place the rack at the highest setting.
3. Cook the steak for 2-4 minutes (more for thicker cuts) on each side. The Thai prefer this beef be on the rarer side, but your mileage may vary. Remove the beef and let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, heat a frying pan and add the olive oil.
5. First add the chiles and saute for 30 seconds alone. Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. If there is too little oil, add 1 or 2 Tbsp of water to keep it from sticking.
6. Take the pan off the heat.
7. Thinly slice the beef, across the grain. The thinner, the better, so sharpen your knife beforehand.
8. Add the steak slices to the mushrooms in the pan and mix well.
9. Make the dressing by mixing the scallions, garlic, lime and fish sauce, sugar and cilantro in a small bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the steak and mushroom mixture.
10. Lay out the romaine, tomatoes, and cucumber on the table. Each person makes a mound of salad on their plate.
11. Place 1/4 of the steak mixture on the salad and garnishes with the sesame seeds.
12. Make Yum-Yum noises.

If you are finding that this is not quite enough food, add another 8 ounces of mushrooms to the saute pan (use a larger one or cook in two batches). This bulks out the mixture with no fat and lots of good protein.