Spicy Thai Beef Salad

Still on my Thai food mood, really. Tab tim grob was fabulous! I ate so much, that I gained weight from the coconut milk - despite the low fat version of it. I am so so glad to be off on a beautiful Monday, had time to work out at the gym ( which I have been giving myself tonnes of reason for not going) and a very relaxing, rejuvenating time at the sauna as well.

What more way to give my tummy a break from fatty, oily food after gym?! Ofcourse, I had Chicken Panini instead of what is shown in this blog post, but writing about salad - especially my favourite salad, is bliss...

Who would like to eat dry salad without any dressing? Some dressing claims they're fat free or 99% fat free, but... you can't run away from those hidden calories. Lemon juice is good, but some people, may not be able to take it on its own...

I came up with my own version of Thai Beef Salad, with lots of fresh coriander, crunchy cucumber, hint of onions, and, bird's eye chilis added to spice the salad up and perk you up instantly!
The star of this salad has got to be the thai dressing itself. It is simple and quick to make. Very tasty, fresh, smells great, and makes the greens really appetixing to eat even if you don't normally like salads.

Some people add spring onions, but I personally prefer coriander only to make this salad. I stick to the basic greens and add a little tomato, onions, and capsicum sometimes. It goes very well wih grilled beef, but you can't go wrong with chicken either.

Serve as an appetizer, or wih your main course, or if you're eating light, you can just eat it on its own, still tastes great!

:: Spicy Thai Beef Salad Recipe :
for 2

1/2 Iceberg lettuce or Roman Lettuce
4 Cherry Tomatoes, halved (normal tomato is good too)
1/2 green capsicum (bell pepper), thinly sliced
1/4 small green onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon freshly chopped Coriander

200gm beef strips, grilled with a dash of pepper

For Salad dressing
1 small bird's eye chili, finely chopped (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
juice of 1 lemon or lime
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon fish sauce
a dash of olive oil (optional)

Firsly, grill the beef and place aside. Prepare salad in a bowl but don't add the beef as yet. The beef would still be warm if you had just cooked it, and wouldn't want to wilt the greens too much.

For salad dresing, add all ingredients together and stir to combine. Preferably, start with the lemon juice, fish sauce, sugar, and lastly flaked chilis. The dressing should be ready when the sugar has melted with the lemon juice. Add little by little the flaked chilis, less thean half a teaspoon for less spiciness, and more for you daring spicy food lovers out there. I took half a teaspoon only. Remember there's also freshly chopped bird's eye chili (optional).

Arrange the grilled beef on the salad, nicely on top of the greens. When ready to be served, pour the salad dressing all over the Thai Beef Salad and now, quickly grab a fork and eat away! Enjoy! :-)