THAI BEEF SALAD

I was recently talking with one of my friends about favourite recipes and she shared with me a recipe for a thai beef salad.  She calls the salad 'weeping tiger beef'.  The beef steak is marinated and then grilled and served over a salad.  It has a fresh taste as it uses both mint and cilantro.

I made a few changes to the recipe and since the barbecue gets limited usage in the winter time, I cooked the steak in the oven.  The original recipe was a green salad with tomato and green onion.  I also added mushrooms and cucumber.  You can add other favourite vegetables to the salad.  The recipe calls for fish sauce.  Instead of using fish sauce which is high in sodium, I used nuoc cham dipping sauce which is the sauce used for vietnamese fresh rolls.  It is about a third of the sodium content.  Instead of regular soy sauce I use Bragg liquid aminos as it is much lower in sodium.  Both the DH and I enjoyed this salad.  It is a keeper.

I used this sauce instead of fish sauce.

Marinade

Beef steak placed in the marinade.

Salad is ready to eat.

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 to 1 pound beef steak

5 to 6 cups of chopped lettuce 

1 to 2 green onions, finely chopped

1 tomato chopped into small chunks

1 mini cucumber, chopped

2 large mushrooms, chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

8 to 10 fresh mint leaves, chopped

3 tbsp cashews, almonds or peanuts, chopped

Marinade

2 tbsp fish sauce or nuoc cham

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sugar or splenda

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp ground coriander seed

pepper to taste

Dressing

2 tbsp fish sauce or nuoc cham

1 tbsp lemon or lime juice

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sweet red chill sauce

1 tbsp water

DIRECTIONS:

Cut the steak into several large pieces and place into a container that has a lid.  Mix the marinade in a small bowl and add to the steak.  Turn the steak over a few times to coat with the marinade.  Cover and place in the fridge for an hour.

Heat the barbecue or oven to 375 degrees F.  Cook the steak in the barbecue or oven to how well done you like meat to be.  While the meat is cooking prepare the salad.  Divide the salad between two large plates.  After cooking the meat, let it rest for five minutes.  Thinly slice the meat and divide it between the two plates.  Mix the salad dressing and add it to the salads.  Serves 2.

BANANA MAPLE OATMEAL COOKIES

I had a craving earlier this week for oatmeal cookies after looking at some cookies in a local coffee establishment.   These cookies are fat free and low in sugar.  I didn't flatten them with a fork when placed on a baking sheet and left them higher and chunkier to bake.  Since these cookies were more chunkier, I baked them for 12 minutes.  They passed the DH's tasting session and are good.  They would probably be great dunked in coffee or regular tea.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup regular or quick oats

1 cup flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

½  tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ cup raisins

1 egg

½ tsp vanilla

2 tbsp water

¼ cup maple syrup

¼ cup sugar or splenda

1 banana, mashed

½ tsp lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a medium size mixing bowl, mix the oats, flour, baking soda, sugar or splenda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and then add the raisins. 

In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg and add the maple syrup, water, vanilla, mashed banana, and lemon juice.  Combine well.  Pour into the dry mixture and stir well but don’t overmix.

Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat or parchment paper.  You can flatten each cookie slightly with a fork.  Bake for 8-12 minutes or until bottoms and sides are lightly brown.  Makes 18 to 20 cookies.

Modified from fatfreevegan.com