A bowl of something good

After a long break in posting, I’m finally back with a fabulous new recipe. In the past few months, I’ve become enchanted by the travels of chef/writer Anthony Bourdain on his Travel Channel show No Reservations. Frequently on his journeys across the globe, Bourdain finds himself enjoying a hearty bowl of soup, often prepared by a roadside vendor in a developing nation. Bourdain often muses about how some of the best foods on the planet are served in bowls by unassuming folks who have honed the craft of cooking over years of working with what they had readily available. I strongly agree with Bourdain about the unexpected goodness that can often be found in a bowl of soup, which is one of my favorite type of dish to just assemble on a whim.

My recent love of Thai food prompted me to try to make one of my favorite Thai finds, tom yum soup. One of the key ingredients in this tangy soup is lemongrass, which is not readily available in my area, so I had never tried to make it at home. I was happy to discover recently that in the herb section at Kroger, they have lemongrass paste in a tube that I quickly realized meant I could try my hand at tom yum soup.

Another recent find also helped make my cooking task easier. When looking at the Mexican food section at Wal-Mart, I noticed a box of cilantro cubes. I love cilantro, but I hate chopping it up, so I was thrilled to see that someone had cleverly dried chopped cilantro and formed it into little cubes!

After finding a recipe online that I could use as a base for my bowl of something good, I began creating my own version of the soup. One of the things that appealed to me most about this soup and many of the soups that I’ve seen Bourdain sample in Asian countries is the addition of a variety of tangy condiments to individual bowls of soup. My husband always laughs at my inclusion of a “fixin’s bar” when I cook, but I have to admit that I love preparing little bowls of toppings for my dishes whether it’s soup or chili dogs. I have decided that my love of fixin’s is a direct result of the Tupperware salad server my mom used when I was a kid. Today’s fixin’s bar consisted of chopped green onions, chopped tomatoes and chili-garlic sauce. It was delicious!

4-6 c. chicken stock

2 T. lemongrass paste

2 T. fish sauce

2 T. soy sauce

3-5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or 3 T. minced garlic

1/2 can coconut milk

1 cilantro cube or 3 T. chopped fresh cilantro

1 can straw mushrooms, drained

1 T. Asian chili-garlic sauce

2 T. lime juice

1 c. chopped cooked chicken, if desired

Chopped tomatoes and green onions

Additional chili-garlic sauce

Add stock and lemongrass to a large pot and turn heat to medium-high. Boil for 5 minutes, or until fragrant. Add cilantro, soy sauce, garlic, lime juice and mushrooms to broth. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Add chicken, coconut milk, fish sauce and chili sauce. More coconut milk can be added if you wish your soup to be more creamy and/or less spicy. Top individual bowls with onions, tomatoes and chili sauce, if desired.

Summer salad series – spicy Thai beef salad

Until last year, I had never had Thai food. A small Thai restaurant opened nearby, and ever since my first visit for our anniversary last summer, I’ve been hooked on the stuff. Everything I’ve tried there has been wonderful, but one dish in particular has become my absolute favorite, the spicy beef salad. I find myself thinking about the flavorful mix of beef, cucumbers, mint and cilantro quite often, and as a bonus, it’s not covered with a heavy sauce or anything else that would make it taboo for my Weight Watchers plan.

This weekend I was thinking how wonderful it would be to have a bowl of lemongrass soup followed by the succulent spicy beef salad. However, I had my three year-old son with me, and I decided it would be best to forgo the trip. The Thai restaurant is a beautifully decorated, quaint space that I feel is not exactly kid friendly. Some people might feel comfortable bringing toddlers to such a place, but I feared my son might act up. I certainly didn’t want to expose myself to any situation where I wouldn’t feel like I could go back there frequently, so we went to another restaurant instead. For the record, I think it’s great that there are restaurants that aren’t appropriate for young kids, so I’m not complaining. My 11 year-old loves it there, but he is old enough to sit still and enjoy his meal while speaking at an acceptable volume.

Unfortunately, though, my craving for spicy beef salad did not subside, so I decided to pick up some things when I went grocery shopping later to try to make it at home. I knew what the main ingredients were, and I guessed at the rest. When I got home, I looked up some different versions of the dish online and adapted mine according to my own personal taste. I was extremely pleased with the results, but I still plan on frequenting Sai Thai Cuisine whenever possible. Let me just say that I made my version extremely spicy because of my husband’s love of hot food. Feel free to tone down the heat. It will still be awesome. There are some very strong flavors in this dish, but give it a chance.

Here is my version of spicy Thai beef salad:

1 lb.-1 1/2 lb. flank steak
1/2 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
6 c. leaf lettuce, torn
1/2 c. fresh mint leaves, torn
1/2 c. fresh cilantro leaves, torn
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/2-1 tsp. dried red pepper
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
juice of 3 limes
1 T. vegetable oil or sesame oil
2 T. soy sauce or fish sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar or Splenda

Marinate flank steak in 1/2 c. soy sauce and red wine vinegar for several hours or overnight. Grill or broil over medium heat, 5 to 10 minutes on each side until medium or medium rare, depending on preference. This step can be done a day ahead and flank steak refrigerated, if desired.

Combine lime juice, oil, 2 T. soy sauce and sugar or Splenda in a large bowl and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add mint, cilantro, basil, pepper, onions and cucumber and mix well. Refrigerate 30 minutes if possible to help combine flavors. Thinly slice beef and reheat in a skillet if necessary. Just before serving, add lettuce to salad mixture and mix well. Serve salad mixture with beef and steamed white rice, if desired. Pour any remaining dressing over beef.  Garnish with some additional sliced cucumber, if desired.