Beef Lo Mein Salad

March 18, 2015

In the old days... being the days before GTLF, I had an enormous number of  "Beliefs" about food. In fact, I didn't even realize most of them until I started working with GTLF. In this case, I realized I have a belief about food temperatures. I believed that in order to really have a meal, specifically dinner, it should be hot. If it's hot it's a meal, if it's not, then it's just a salad and is more like a side meal instead of a true dinner.  With more experience in cooking and eating different kinds of foods, I've learned that dinner doesn't have to be hot to be satisfying. It can often be cold... and interestingly, a cold meal is more comfortable to eat during the hot months of summer, or if you've had a heavier lunch... or even if you're lazy and not much interested in turning on the stove. Enjoy!

Beef Lo Mein Salad

GTLF: Main Dish Salads p. 47

Serves 4, working time 25 min., total time 35 min.

8 oz. linguine or spaghetti

3 in. piece fresh ginger

3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

4 tsp. dark Oriental sesame oil

1 tablespoon honey

2 tsp. creamy peanut butter

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 yellow bell pepper cut into 1/4 inch wide strips

1 red bell pepper cut into 1/4 inch wide strips

1 cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and cut into 2 X 1/4 in. strips

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

10 oz. well trimmed top round of beef

1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the pasta until just tender. Drain well.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the broiler. Grate the ginger into a small bowl. Squeeze the ginger to extract as much ginger juice as possible. Discard the solids. You should have about 2 tablespoons of juice. Transfer the ginger juice to a large bowl. Whisk in the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, honey, peanut butter, salt, and cayenne until smooth. Stir in the bell peppers, cucumber, scallions, and cilantro. Add the pasta, tossing well to combine.

3. Broil the beef 6 in. from the heat for about 4 minutes per side. or until medium rare. Place the beef on a plate and let it stand for 20 minutes. Thinly slice the beef on the diagonal, reserving any juices on the plate. Transfer the beef and juices to the bowl with the pasta, tossing to combine. Serve warm at room temperature, or chilled.

Nutritional Information: 9 g fat, 402 calories, 1.8 g sat. fat, 54 g carbohydrate, 26 g protein, 40 mg cholesterol, 783 mg sodium.

TIPS:

1. Onions! In my mind, any onion works well in any recipe. In this case, if you don't have any scallions, try white onion or shallots.

2. GTLF says you can serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled.