BEEF VERMICELLI SALAD

I have a strange obsession with rice vermicelli noodles. I could eat them every single day if I allowed myself. Here's a very fresh and simple beef vermicelli salad that I love to make. You can use whatever fresh vegetables you have on hand! This is a beautifully light, fresh and vibrant salad, perfect for Spring or Summer! 

INGREDIENTS

• 400g lean eye fillet beef, cut into thin strips
• 2cm fresh ginger, grated
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil 
• 100g rice vermicelli noodles 
• 1 large carrot, grated
• 1 medium capsicum, finely chopped
• 1 continental cucumber, finely chopped
• 2 shallots/spring onions, finely chopped
• Optional- 2 tablespoons of fresh coriander, finely chopped 

Dressing 

• the juice of half a lime (around 2 tablespoons)
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce 
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce 
• 1-2 tablespoons water 

COOKING 

1. Combine the beef strips with the ginger, garlic and oyster sauce and marinate in the fridge for 10 minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, prepare the salad. Place the vermicelli noodles in a medium heatproof bowl and pour boiling water over noodles. Stand for 2-3 minutes or until noodles are tender, then drain well in a sieve or colander. Pour cold water over the noodles and drain again. 

3. Preparing the salad: In a large bowl toss the cooked vermicelli noodles with the carrot, capsicum, cucumber, shallots and coriander, if using. 

4. Preparing the salad: Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl and stirring.  If the dressing is too strong, add more water, just a splash at a time. 

5. Once the 10 minutes of marinating is up, heat the oil in a medium frying pan over low-medium heat. Add the beef strips and cook, stirring often, for around 5 minutes or until the beef is browned to your liking. Remove from heat. 

4. Add the cooked beef to the salad and drizzle the dressing over the top. Toss well and serve. 

Serves / 4

Total Preparation time & Cooking time / around 20 minutes 

x Emily 

SWEET POTATO VERMICELLI STIRFRY

I have wanted to try sweet potato vermicelli for a long time now, but had never ventured out to try to find out. Turns out that there were 4 different varieties of this noodle at my tiny local Asian supermarket. I was rather hung-over last Sunday after a Saturday night of drinking (something I rarely do nowadays) and I thought that cooking would make me feel better than sitting around feeling sorry for myself. Turns out that I was right! I’d recommend a trip to your nearby Asian grocery store for this particular type of vermicelli (sweet potato vermicelli is Korean in origin) as regular vermicelli does not taste the same.

INGREDIENTS

• 300g lean eye fillet, sliced into thin, even strips
• 1 teaspoon tamarind 
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce or tamari
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed 
• 250g dried sweet potato vermicelli 
• 1/4 red cabbage, finely shredded
• 1/4 green cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 large carrot, finely shredded or roughly grated 
• 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds & 2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup fresh coriander, leaves removed from the stems 

COOKING 

1. Place the eye fillet strips in a medium ceramic bowl and add the tamarind, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and 1 tablespoon water. Mix well, until the tamarind is evenly combined with the other ingredients. Cover and leave to sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan or kettle of water to the boil. Pour the boiling hot water over the vermicelli and leave to soak for 5 minutes or until the vermicelli is soft. Drain the vermicelli well in a colander or large sieve, but do not pour cold water over it to rinse. 

3. After the meat has been marinading for 20 minutes, heat the other teaspoon of sesame oil in a large wok over medium-low heat and swirl to coat. Add the eye fillet and the juice from the marinade and cook, stirring constantly, until the meat is lightly brown. Change the heat to medium-high low and add the red & green cabbage and the carrot to the wok and cook, stirring occasionally for 7 minutes or until the cabbage is just tender. Add the two types of sesame seeds, coriander and cooked vermicelli to the wok and toss well to combine. Serve warm, with extra coriander sprinkled on top, if desired. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 25 minutes (including 20 minutes marinading time)

Total Cooking time / 15 minutes 

x Emily 

WARM STEAK SALAD SANDWICH

I’m not usually one to buy my own salad dressings or sauces preferring to make them on my own. However, when I was browsing a local Organic store and found the Ozganics brand of dressings and sauces, I made an exception. It is incredibly difficult to hunt down a low-fat, healthy and tasty dressing/sauce that is gluten free and dairy-free- in fact its almost impossible. Ozganics makes simmer sauces, pasta sauces, salad dressings, marinades and table sauces- all containing not a trace of gluten or dairy. They have a super cute website http://www.ozganics.com.au/ as well. Definitely a brand for anyone with food allergies and/or lacking time to make healthy condiments. This steak salad sandwich idea came about whilst I was browsing the latest issue of Super Food Ideas (June 2012 issue) and me and my boyfriend were hungover last Sunday night. Awesome simple dinner idea.

INGREDIENTS

• 300g lean eye fillet steak, cut into small even strips
• 1 teaspoon grape seed oil
• 2 large tomatoes, washed and cut into wedges
• 1/2 a continental cucumber, cut into slices
• 1 x 400g tin of beetroot slices, drained 
• a generous handful of baby spinach leaves, washed and drained
• 1/2 an avocado, cut into small pieces
• 2 slices of gluten-free bread multigrain bread, toasted and torn into bite sized pieces
• a drizzle of 'Ozganics Egg, Gluten & Dairy Free Creamy Garlic Dressing 

COOKING 

1. Heat a small to medium frying pan over low-medium heat, adding oil and swirling to coat. When pan is heated add strips of beef and cook, stirring often, for around 7-8 minutes or until the beef is cooked and no red meat remains. Remove from heat. 

2. Combine baby spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, beetroot, avocado and torn bread pieces in a large serving bowl. Add cooked beef to the bowl and toss well to combine. Add a drizzle of the garlic dressing or any low-fat dressing you like and serve whilst beef is warm. 

Serves / 2 as a main / 4 as a side 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 10 minutes 

x E

BEEF THAI SALAD

INGREDIENTS

• 250g eye fillet steak, cut into even strips
• 250g fresh bean sprouts, washed
• 250g rice vermicelli noodles
• 2 small lebanese cucumbers, cut into even strips
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil 
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce 
• 1 tablespoon tamari sauce 

Thai salad dressing

• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free sweet chilli sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce 

COOKING 

1. Combine eye fillet, oil, lime juice (3 tablespoons), fish sauce (1 tablespoon), tamari sauce and green onions in a medium bowl. Marinade in the fridge for at least 1 hour. 

2. After 1 hour, remove from fridge. Heat a small frying pan over medium-low heat and add marinated beef. Cook, stirring constantly, for around 5 minutes or until beef is brown and no red flesh remains. Remove from the heat. 

3. Bring a kettle of water to the boil. Place vermicelli noodles in a large saucepan and pour boiling hot water over the top of them. Leave for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a fork, until noodles are tender. Drain well with cold water. 

4. Make Thai salad dressing by combining lime juice, sweet chilli sauce and fish sauce in a small jar with a screw-top lid and shaking to combine. 

5. Place cooked noodles in a large serving bowl and add cucumber and bean sprouts. Top with cooked beef and Thai salad dressing. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 12 minutes (plus 1 hour cooling time)

Total Cooking time / 15 minutes 

x E