So, fun fact: growing up in high school and college I always worked a server in restaurants — pretty much any chain restaurant you can think of I worked at (Applebees, Cheesecake Factory, Tony Roma’s — yup, can I take your order?!). But while I was in LA going to college I worked at restaurant name Houston’s (where I got to serve celebs like Leonardo DiCaprio, John Legend, Chris Pine — NBD), a casual fine dining American style restaurant that had one specific salad that I LOVED – the Thai Steak & Noodle Salad. It’s not a traditional salad at all and has so many bold, delicious flavors that it quickly became my favorite (probably because it has pasta in it) which is why I wanted to share my own version of how to make this bomb dot com meal!
It may seem like a lot of ingredients, but you can pretty much add whatever you like to customize it to your taste. You can even use chicken or tofu instead of steak, but I love the classic version!
Let’s do it! First, prep your steak!
Steak Marinade:
2 Teaspoons Sesame oil
Half of a Lime juice
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Chili Garlic Sauce
3 cloves chopped garlic
**Depending on how large your steak is you could make more or less
Step 1: Marinate your steak with all ingredients for 4-8 hours in the refrigerator — take it out 30 minutes before you are ready to cook it.
Step 2: Heat your grill (or in my case grill pan) until hot, drain off excess marinade and grill for 4-5 minutes each side.
Step 3: Once cooked to desired temperature, take it off the grill, cover with foil and let rest for at least 10 minutes (this locks in all the juices!). Once rested, cube it into bite size pieces.
Next, get your dressing ready!
Salad Dressing:
1/4 cup of Peanut Butter (I used chunky)
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
3 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Teaspoons sriracha
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Half juice of a lime
Step 1: Combine all ingredients except the oil and mix together. Once combined slowly drizzle your oil in to thicken – voila!
Now it’s time to assemble and toss everything together…and most importantly EAT!
Salad:
Marinated, cooked & cubed steak
1/2 pound of whole wheat spaghetti, cooked, drained, rinsed with cold water & tossed with a tablespoon of sesame oil
1 mango, cubed
1 avocado, cubed
1 cup shredded carrots
1 hothouse cucumber, sliced
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 cups butter lettuce
1/2 cup each of roughly chopped mint, basil and cilantro
1 tsp of salt and pepper
Crushed peanuts and lime for garnish
Combine your cooked steak, salad ingredients and toss with your peanut dressing and ENJOY! This is just as good on day two so make extra for leftovers!
This looks super yummy! Love noodle dishes like this. Nice one Amanda (:
This sounds so good! thanks for the recipe