The weather gods be cray-cray this past week. We’ve sweltered in our little hotbox of a weatherboard farmhouse through 38+ degrees, and now I’ve got the heater on in Harriet’s nursery of a night and contemplating lighting the fire?! Sheesh. (Husband will hear none of lighting the fire in February, pfft…)
What to eat on those sweltering evenings though? When everyone is all sweaty and cranky and icy poles sounds like a good idea for dinner?
This is my go-to Summer salad, originally found in the amazing ‘Savour the Outback’ recipe book which I was a part of creating during my time as a governess through Longreach School of Distance Education. I’m not sure if there are still copies of ‘Savour the Outback’ readily available? Hmmm, I’ll have to find out for you…but it is well worth securing yourself a copy, I have shelves full of cookbooks but it is by far my most used, a firm family favourite (and a fabulous gift!) This Thai beef salad gets trotted out a lot, I’ve added a few ingredients of my own (and omitted a few) so it’s a bit different from the original, deliciousness all round though – perfect amount of chilli, zesty lime, crunchy beans and peanuts, perfectly cooked beef. Delish, light and Summery goodness…
Thai Beef Salad
500g rump steak, fat trimmed
Big bunch of rocket
Couple of big handfuls of bean shoots
Red capsicum, sliced
Good handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped
Good handful of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
Peanuts, unsalted
Dressing:
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 red chillis, finely sliced and seeds removed (or left, up to you!)
2 tbsp lime juice (or lemon, I prefer lime)
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar (or brown sugar if you don’t have palm)
1 tbspo peanut oil
Season the meat with salt and pepper before browning in peanut oil over high heat. Rest the meat while you prepare the salad. Toss together the rocket, bean shoots, capsicum, mint and coriander, slice the meat and add to the salad. In a jar shake together all of the dressing ingredients (when I haven’t had any fresh garlic cloves or a chilli on hand I’ve used crushed in a jar which has been fine, but fresh is best). Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Scatter some peanuts over for extra crunch (I unfortunately didn’t have any the other night for dinner so they’re not pictured!)
Even the meat and three veg loving husband devours this (hello: red meat) but he also hates chilli so go figure. The quantities of sugar to salty fish sauce to acidity to oil in the dressing is the perfect balance I find, and the bean shoots and peanuts add fantastic texture. Love love love this salad of a steamy Summer evening with a beer in hand. Now the crazy Gippsland weather has me thinking of dragging out the slow cooker though and reaching for a glass of red…
