Salad Days

It's summer, it's hot and the oven has been declared off-limits until cooler weather. Living in a 6th floor walk-up apartment means it gets damned uncomfortable in the rooms without AC units--and the kitchen is one of those rooms. It also means no yard for a barbeque and that all the tempting recipes assuming grill and hot coals go untried unless we find a work-around-- which we have done, thanks to a stove-top grill pan. Of course we have to out up with a fair amount of smoke, but we don't mind too much.

Thai Beef Salad
from Cooking Light
serves 6 (I cut the recipe in half)

1/1 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 chopped fresh cilantro
2 tblsp brown sugar
2 tblsp Thai fish sauce
2 tblsp chili paste with garlic
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 lb flank steak, trimmed
cooking spray
1 1/2 cups sliced red onion
4 plum tomatoes, each cut into 6 wedges
1 1/4 cups thinly sliced English cucumber
2 tblsp chopped fresh mint
6 cups romaine lettuce, torn into pieces

Combine first 6 ingredients, and set half of it aside. Place the flank steak into a large ziplock bag and pour half of the lime mixture over the meat. Seal and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least half an hour (I sometimes set this up in the morning and let it go all day).

When you're ready to make dinner, prepare the grill and then cook the steak for 6 minutes on each side. Let the meat stand for 5 minutes.

While the meat is resting, heat a skillet and coat with cooking spray. Add the onion and saute for about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and continue to saute for another 2 minutes. Place the onion/tomato mixture into a large bowl and toss with the lettuce and cucumber.

Cut the steak diagonally across the grain into thin slices.

Divide the salad onto plates and top each serving with the sliced steak. Drizzle each serving with 1 tblsp of the reserved lime mixture.

Per Serving: 219 cal, 21.1 g pro, 12.3 g carb, 8.6 g fat, 3.6 g sat. fat, 54 mg chol, 2.2 g fiber, 45 mg sodium