RECIPE - Thai Beef and Cucumber Salad

Tonight I made a delicious dinner and it was a recipe I made up myself! Well, I originally had a recipe and wrote down the ingredients but not the directions-my bad. So maybe it was only half made up. Whatever the case may be, it was delicious and I had to share it.

I call it Thai Beef and Cucumber Salad, I can't even remember what it was originally supposed to be but I do know the original didn't have steak in it and well, everything is better with steak!

Ingredients:
1 lb steak
4 cucumbers (basically 1 per person, more if you're super hungry)
1 tbsp toasted sunflower seeds
1 tbsp raw coconut aminos
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1-2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 cloves of garlic
1/4 tsp powdered ginger (fresh would be good too, I just didn't have any)
1/2 tbsp coconut oil (optional)
sesame seed to garnish
grapes

makes 4 servings

Directions:
1. Use a julienne peeler to make your cucumber "noodles" and set aside
(this was the first time I tried a julienne peeler and it worked great!! So easy.)
2. In a medium bowl, mix coconut aminos, almond butter, rice wine vinegar, water, pepper flakes and ginger (this will be your sauce), set aside
3. Mince garlic
2. Slice or cube steak and sautee in pan, add garlic and coconut oil
3. Once steak is almost cooked, add sauce and simmer for a five minutes
4. Put cucumber "noodles" in a bowl and pour sauce over them
5. Add grapes (I used 8-10, use as many as you'd like)
6. Aprinkle sunflower seeds and top with sesame seeds (then if you're like me, add the spicy chili sauce!)

Once you add the meat and sauce to the cucumbers it cools off rather quickly for a nice and light tasting summer salad. Enjoy!

...
This recipe in particular was very quick and easy - which I love.

I used my julienne peeler for the first time today and absolutely LOVED it! again, this is a gadget I recommend going out and buying. I think mine was about $8. I used it on the cucumber to make the "noodle" and I couldn't be happier with the results and I look forward to trying it on other vegetables. The cucumber made for a very light tasting base to this dish, it's getting warmer out so it was perfect timing. I probably could have added lettuce, but quite frankly I just didn't want to take the time and besides there were plenty of cucumbers for both my husband and I. During the summer our garden overflows with fresh cucumbers so it's going to be a perfect dish to make and I plan on making it often.

Tips and Variations:
-In Winter, try sauteed cabbage and adding veggies such as carrots or peppers and serve warm.
-I used grapes in my recipe, but Mango or pineapple chunks would be delicious too!
-Try julienned squash noodles or experiment with other favorites


Tomorrow I will be making a crustless "meatza pizza" with carrot fries so stop back for those very tastey recipes! (the carrot fries are my absolute favorite, seriously you'll never go back to white potato fries! ...shhhhh, I live in Idaho so don't tell anyone I said that).

-Hilary