Smitten Kitchen’s Garlic Lime Steak and Noodle Salad
you should not be in charge today, so delegate some decisions
things you’ll need: steak (or tuna or maybe tofu), lime, brown sugar, garlic, fish sauce, something spicy, neutral oil, rice noodles, cilantro, mint and/or basil, veggies to put on it (cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, bean sprouts, radish, carrots, cabbage, or whatever, to your liking), and then more limes.
arrived, like a delicious gift, in my inbox from Smitten Kitchen, and made entirely from Deb's recipe with more lime because that’s what I’m like.
incidentally gluten-free (with the right fish sauce), vegetarian and vegan if you sub tofu and a vegan fish sauce (or whatever aminos you use in place of such things).
Chapter 170
Sometimes you don’t know what you want. Ok, often you have no idea what you want and get confused between what you want, what you should want, and what you only want because it is familiar (even if it’s bad for you). Whether it’s dating charming narcissists or eating an entire bag of pretzel rods dipped in chocolate frosting for dinner, sometimes you need someone to tell you what to do because you are temporarily very bad at making good choices.
Luckily you are a very smart, self-aware, and compassionate person who allows for the occasional jar of peanut butter for lunch and second chances, keeping self-flagellation to a minimum. You are also well-equipped with resources and healthy-ish coping mechanisms because you’ve been adulting for a while now and mostly have the hang of it.
So, when you go too long between feedings and have reached the shuffling indignancy of over-hungry and no longer able to process decision making, you can rely on the 1,000 newsletters you subscribe to, the mighty power of a search box, and the reliability of Smitten Kitchen’s greatness.
You have several limes and a propensity for letting them go hard by accident and then feeling really bad about letting the food go to waste. You also happen to have a bit of steak in the freezer (or tuna or tofu) from that time skirt was on sale and you bought more than you needed for the steak tacos you devoured (good choice).
So, you search your inbox for “steak lime” and are faced with many subject lines reading something like “A grilled salad is a better salad” and “Go-To Summer Dinners!” to scroll through. As you click through, you land on one of the best newsletter providers who seems to know exactly what you have in your fridge at this very moment because maybe she is psychic or, at the very least, a magical fae-person swooping in to make your food decisions into good decisions.
Follow her directions because she is in charge at the moment. Measure brown sugar, grate some garlic, and then juice several limes until you get almost 1/3 cup, then juice one more lime because you only have one left and will not remember to use it before it petrifies in your fruit basket, and you know that Deb won’t judge you for that. Add a couple of tablespoons of fish sauce (or vegan amino alternative) and taste, adding more if it suits your liking and because Deb said you should make this decision on your own. Use whatever kind of chili crisp or flake you have, unless you just happen to have a bird’s eye chili, to make it as spicy as you like.
Put the frozen steak in a freezer bag and add about 1/3 of your concoction. Submerge most of the bag into cold water, which will also press out the air, and then seal the bag. Let that marinate for as long as it takes to thaw. Meanwhile, slice cucumbers, blanch and shock your green beans, cut tiny tomatoes, and pick over your cilantro. If you are a garden person, then go trim some basil and mint, but it’s ok if you don’t have these.
Once the steak is thawed, grill or broil for a few minutes on each side while you make some rice noodles, rinse them with cold water to chill, and whisk your remaining marinade with some vegetable oil until it tastes like a dressing.
Rest and cut your steak. Pile a bowl with a little of this and a little of that and top with steak (or tofu or tuna) and fresh herbs. Start with a little dressing and then go back for more because the sweet/sour/spice of it all is more delightful than anything you would have concocted on your own.
Pack up your leftovers because Deb said: “The leftovers keep well, too, so don’t be nervous about scaling up” and then don’t wait so long to eat tomorrow because you do actually learn from your mistakes.
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