Last week Andrew went to a science convention in New Orleans, where he listened to science presentations, won a whopping $25 at the casinos and, I imagine, gushed about his favorite elements on the periodic table with a beaker-clad fist in the air. He also ate a ton of food.
When my boyfriend travels without me, I give him a list of restaurants to try and report back (I’m actually pretty good at restaurant list-compiling, whether I’ve been to the city or not so hit me up for recs). Normally I would live vicariously through him, but I sent Andrew to a restaurant I’ve been stalking instagram for a while and I guess it was all too much – I skipped straight to petty jealousy and didn’t turn back. He’s back and we’re working through this fake issue as best we can so please respect our privacy during this trying time.
The whole point of this is to say Andrew loaded up on po’ boys and gumbo and fried chicken etc and came home in desperate need of non-fried vegetables, which is when this salad saved the day.
One thing I hear a lot these *self care* days is to listen to your body – something I wholeheartedly agree with. Sometimes my body is like “hey, lets have something light,” and sometimes if I’ve been eating garbage all week it grabs me by the throat, and whisper-threatens “if the next thing you eat isn’t a salad I will unleash hell.” That’s usually when people start eating sad salads as a punishment for their poor life choices. Don’t do that. This salad is healthful AND satisfying. The key is a good variety of textures and flavors – salty, sweet, crunchy, creamy blah blah blah you get it. This salad hits every mark.
To be honest, this salad gets dangerously close to a Vietnamese vermicelli bowl (one of my tippy top takeout meals), but is definitely more salad than noodles…unless you decide to load up on noodles. Also, the dressing is different. And the noodles. The ideal vermicelli for this is the super thin
This is a steak salad, but it also works really well with shrimp, chicken, tofu or on its own – but you will only find instructions for a quick delicious steak in this recipe. I will probably get into steak a little more in depth at a later date (it’s not like anyone else has ever written about it, she said dripping in sarcasm) but for now this should do the trick.
Oh and last thing: this salad calls for the miso honey vinaigrette, but if you don’t want to make it just grab your favorite vaguely Asian salad dressing.
| Prep Time | 30 minutes |
| Cook Time | 10 minutes |
| Passive Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1-1 1/2 lb flank steak room temperature
- 1 T neutral oil
- kosher salt + pepper to taste
- Miso Honey Vinaigrette (see headnote)
- 4-8 oz thin rice vermicelli
- 4 C little gem lettuce (or romaine) roughly chopped
- 1 Persian cucumber thinly sliced
- 2 carrots peeled and shaved into ribbons
- 3-4 radishes thinly sliced
- 1 large hass avocado halved and sliced
- 2 scallions thinly sliced on the bias
- 1/3 C cilantro thick stalks removed, tender stems and leaves roughly chopped
- 1/4 C mint stalks removed, leaves torn
- 1/4 C roasted peanuts roughly chopped
- 1 T black sesame seeds
- sriracha (optional)
Ingredients
steak
salad
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- Pat your steak dry and season liberally with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat (or a regular clad pan if you don't have one). Add oil and heat until its super hot but not smoking - then add your steak.
- Cook for 4 minutes on each side FLIPPING ONLY ONCE for medium rare (3 minutes on the second side if its on the thinner side). A thermometer inserted from the side to the deepest point should read 135F when you pull it off the heat.
- Put steak on a cutting board and cover with foil. Let steak rest ideally 30 minutes but realistically at least 15 minutes. Slice against the grain.
- Boil 4+ cups of water in a kettle or pot. Meanwhile, put the vermicelli in a heat-safe bowl. Once your water is boiling, pour it over the noodles and let it sit for 3-5 minutes until the noodles are softened but not mushy. Strain them (a colander would be nice) and rinse with cold water. Set aside.
- To assemble your salad, first toss the lettuce with most of the dressing* you want to use. Scatter piles of noodles around on top. Then top with cucumber, radish and carrot. Then avocado slices. At this point if you want to add an extra drizzle of dressing it would be cool.
- Sprinkle with scallions, herbs and cilantro. Then peanuts and sesame seeds. Top with sliced steak. Add a squiggle of sriracha if you like a little heat.
*If you're meal prepping, don't toss the dressing on because everything will get soggy. Add it as needed when you're eating it.
I used French breakfast radishes but any radish will do!