CEiMB - Grilled Thai Beef Salad

I'm writing this from St. Vincent's waiting room which should actually be called the waiting, waiting and more waiting room. Mr. B's having some ankle surgery today and was told to be here at 6:00am, so we were. Only to be sitting here two hours later and STILL not be taken to a room. WTF? Can you tell I'm not a patient person??

Anyhoo, this week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe was chosen by Jen of Jen B's Cooking Carveout and Jen chose Ellie's Grilled Thai Beef Salad.

This was a great dinner salad. The marinade for the flank steak also served as the dressing for the salad, so it was super simple to throw together. I loved how the brown sugar in the marinade created a nice caramelized crust on the grilled steak and the cilantro and basil in the salad added some nice extra flavor.

Thanks, Jen for a great choice.

Here's the recipe:

Grilled Thai Beef Salad

Ingredients

• 1 pound top-round London broil or flank steak, about 1 to 1 1/2-inches thick
• 3 tablespoons lime juice, divided
• 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced ginger
• 1 1/4 teaspoons red curry paste or chili-garlic sauce
• 1/2 head red-leaf lettuce, torn (about 6 cups)
• 3 shallots, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup), divided, for garnish
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, rinsed and dried
• 1 cup basil leaves, sliced into ribbons

Directions

Rinse and pat the meat dry. Place in a sealable plastic bag or small glass dish. In a medium bowl combine 1 tablespoon of the lime juice, soy sauce, canola oil, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and red curry paste. Pour half the mixture into the bag with the meat. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice to the bag. Seal tightly, and marinate meat in refrigerator at least 4 hours or overnight, turning occasionally. Reserve the rest of the mixture refrigerated, to dress the salad.

Spray grill or grill pan with cooking spray and preheat. Grill steak until medium-rare, about 5 minutes per side, depending on desired doneness. Let rest until room temperature then slice thinly against the grain.

Combine lettuce, sliced shallot, cilantro, basil and beef in a salad bowl, reserving a few shallots for garnish. Add the reserved dressing and toss to coat. Divide salad among 4 plates and garnish with reserved sliced shallots.

Update.....FINALLY made it to pre-op room. Ankle surgery has now become ankle AND knee surgery. I'll keep you posted.