THAI BEEF SALAD

My fiancee Chris bought me Pete Evans' cookbook 'Healthy Every Day' last week and since then I have been madly trying out as many of the recipes as I possibly can. My favourite so far: the desserts, snacks and this Thai Beef Salad. Evans uses kelp noodles, which are made of kelp, a sea vegetable, sodium alginate (sodium salt extracted from brown seaweed) and water. This recipe is very similar to Pete's, with a few changes to the dressing. I just happened to have kelp noodles in my pantry from an outing to Wray Organic months ago. Now I will level with you; kelp noodles are not cheap, however they are very low in carbs and calories and contains calcium, potassium, iodine and magnesium, among other essential minerals. You can use rice noodles, such as rice vermicelli, however I would strongly advise splashing out on the kelp noodles as they are rich in nutrients, have a very interesting texture and require no cooking! I ate this for lunch today and can not remember the last time a salad filled me up as much as this one. 

Ingredients

Salad

• 340g kelp noodles 
• 2 tablespoons sea salt
• 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
• 600g grass fed eye fillet steak, fat trimmed and cut into even slabs (around 4-6 pieces)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 large handful fresh coriander

Dressing

• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons coriander stems, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes or 1 long red chilli, finely sliced
• the juice of 1 medium lime 
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 
• 2 tablespoons gluten-free soy sauce or tamari
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
• water 

Cooking 

1. Soak the kelp noodles in a medium bowl of hot water for 30 minutes. Drain with cold water and set aside. 

2. Meanwhile, combine the salt and pepper and sprinkle on a plate. Evenly roll the eye fillet pieces in this mixture. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat and swirl the coconut oil in the pan. Cook the steak for 3-4 minutes each side, then remove from the heat and wrap loosely in foil for 10 minutes to rest. 

3. Whilst the meat is resting make the dressing by combining all the  dressing ingredients and stirring to combine. Add a few splashes to water to thin out the dressing. 

4. Pour half the dressing on the drained noodles and toss to combine (this will further soften the noodles). 

5. Thinly slice the cooked beef. Arrange the noodles, sliced beef, spring onions and coriander leaves in a large bowl and toss to combine. Pour the remaining half of the dressing over the top and toss again. Serve at room temperature or chilled. 

Serves / 4 

Total Cooking time / 35-40 minutes (prep time is included in cooking time)

x Emily 

NO-NUT PRAWN PAD THAI

I often find myself craving Thai takeaway, so learning to make a healthy, low-fat pad thai is super essential to me (and my waistline). I have made various pad thai’s in the past, however they have been quite high in fat and enormous in portion size. Here is my version of pad thai that contains no nuts and no sugar. Some of you may stop reading here, as this recipe is clearly not going to be for an authentic pad thai dish. For those of you still with me, bless you for staying. The hard cold truth is that sugar and nuts contain a great deal of fat and well, to state the obvious, sugar. And with this comes a great deal of extra calories. Without them in this dish more rice noodles are available per serving as well as more vegetables, more prawns (or tofu if going for a vegetarian option) and a tastier dressing/sauce.

Ingredients

• 100g rice stick noodles
• 3 free range eggs (177g), beaten
• 2 teaspoons rice bran oil / sesame oil 
• 250g prawns, peeled, deveined, tails on or off
• 1 small red capsicum (155g), thinly sliced
• 200g buk choy, base removed and roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon Mirin seasoning 
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 50g bean sprouts
• 1 green shallot (3g), finely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped (10g)
• 1 lime (50g), cut into wedges 

Cooking 

1. Bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil and add noodles. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes or until the noodles are tender but not mushy. Remove from the stove and drain well under cold running water. 

2. Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon oil in a wok or large, deep frying pan over medium heat and swirl to coat. Pour the eggs into the wok/pan and leave to set for 2-3 minutes. Once set, remove from heat and place on a plate. When cool enough, cut the omelette into small pieces. 

3. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a wok or large, deep frying pan over medium heat (it is a great idea to use the same wok/pan that you cooked the egg in, as it will have traces of oil left in it) and swirl to coat. Add the prawns, capsicum and buk choy. Cook, stirring often, for 4 minutes or until the prawns are pearly pink in colour and cooked through. Add the garlic to the pan and stir-fry for 1 minute. 

4. Put the egg pieces back into the wok/pan as well as the cooked noodles, fish sauce, mirin seasoning and 1 tablespoon lime juice. Stir gently to combine with tongs. 

5. Remove from the heat and divide the noodles, prawns and vegetables into 2 bowls. Serve warm with half of the bean sprouts, shallots, coriander and lime wedges on top of each bowl. Squeeze lime juice onto the noodles for a citrus dressing / sauce. 

Serves / 2 

Total Preparation time / 15-20 minutes (extra if you are peeled & deveining the prawns yourself)

Total Cooking time / 15 minutes 

Total Calories / approx. 434 per serve 

x Emily