Thai Beef Salad Recipe

I love this time of year, the festive season is a time when we all over indulge and so we should. Christmas dinner with all the trimmings, Christmas pud, a fantastic cheese board, sherry trifle, cold cuts, the list goes on and on, not to mention the booze we wash it all down with. I remember one Christmas where I ended up eating 5 Christmas dinners due to all the work and family events I had to attend.

However we all know that post Christmas slump when we feel the after effects of all that rich food, when I feel this way I crave something light and tasty, a meal that's quick to prepare and healthy. Sound familiar? If so then I have a great recipe for you, Thai beef salad.

Ingredients

Serves 2 people

2 tbsp fish sauce
3 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsn palm sugar (Demerara sugar can be used as an alternative)
2 cloves garlic minced
1 chopped chilli seed removed (can use more if you like it spicy)
1/4 cucumber finely sliced
3 shallots finely sliced (or one small red onion)
1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup fresh coriander
2-3 tomatoes cut in to quarters
2 x beef steaks size according to your appetite (rump, sirloin, rib eye can be used)
2 handfuls chopped lettuce (optional)

Dressing

Mix the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, garlic and chilli in a bowl and mix well together allowing the sugar to dissolve. Leave to one side allowing the flavours to infuse whilst the steak and salad are prepared.

Steak

Pan fry the steaks to your liking, if you have one use a griddle pan, once cooked leave them to rest whilst you prepare the salad.

Salad

Place the cucumber, tomato, shallots, and lettuce in a bowl. Add the mint leave, these can be roughly chopped or torn. Finally add the coriander, again roughly torn.

Once the salad is done slice your steaks and place on the top of the salad, finally drizzle each dish with the dressing.

This dish takes less than half and hour to prepare and the dressing and salad are fat free, if you choose a lean cut of steak this is a very healthy meal. All the ingredients can be adjusted to your own taste, it took me a few attempts to get it right for my pallet.

Give it a go, I'd love to hear how you got on.

Xx

Pin It

#Monday Moodboard - Glass

Posted a bit later than usual, this weeks Monday Moodboard is a collection of glass. I've always loved glass items and have a small collection of retro pieces dotted around the home. One craft I've always wanted to try is glass blowing...maybe one day.

I'm already feeling excited about Christmas and counting down the days, whatever you are up to have a fantastic week! Xx

Pin It

Book Review - River Cottage Handbook No 7 Hedgerow by John Wright

Published by Bloomsbury RRP £14.99 (price varies depending on place of purchase)

I love the River Cottage handbooks, these books are written by members of the River Cottage team with an introduction from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall the brainchild and driving force behind the River Cottage ethos and brand. Each one focuses on a different subject such as fruit, herbs, bread etc. The book I am reviewing today is No 7 in the series, it focuses on the hedgerow and it's written by foraging expert John Wright.

The book is broken down into 6 main categories:

Starting out - where, when and how to look, a foragers calendar has been included for year round gathering.

Conservation and the Law - for obvious reasons we don't want to be gathering endangered species, damage habitats or break the law, this section will help foragers to be aware and mindful when rooting around hedgerows.

Edible Species - these a wide a varied, some species were a surprise such as water mint, corn salad and hogweed. The background folklore associated with some trees, shrubs and plants is fascinating and really gives the reader an insight into our heritage and roots (excuse the pun).

Poisonous Species - I tend to forage for the usual stuff, blackberries, sloes, apples and plums and aspire to forage for more adventurous bounties but do worry about inadvertently poisoning myself! This section will help foragers avoid death by foxglove, henbane or hemlock; read it, it's fascinating stuff.

Recipes - there are some wonderful recipes such as elderflower cordial, a wild stir fry and chick weed pakoras. The recipes vary in terms of difficulty levels and preparation and cooking time.

Useful Things - includes a glossary, illustrations of leaf shapes and terms, a directory of organisations that may be helpful.

Overall this is a great book, it's small enough to be portable when foraging but also a great reference book for a quick thumb through.

Pin It

Overgram App - Such Fun!

I've been having great fun with the Overgram app. This app allows you to place text over images, the uses for this are many, invitations, post cards, posters, business cards etc. The basic app is free, the more advanced app is £1.49 with bolt ons available. There is a choice of fonts, colours, sizes and sharing options such as Instagram and Tumblr. Here are a few of my first attempts at using the app, give it a go, it's highly recommended.

Pin It

#Quick Crafty Makes 3 - Paper Pom Poms (stained with beetroot juice)

Another quick make, paper pom poms, they are cheap, easy and effective. They look great for Christmas, children's parties, weddings etc. The thing that takes the longest with this make is waiting for the paper to dry once dyed, the thicker the paper the longer it takes. Alternatively you could buy coloured paper and fore go the dying. Tissue or crepe paper works best for these.

I only had white tissue and crepe paper and wanted to dye it, beetroot was lurking in my fridge so 'voila' beetroot juice stain it was, it is such a beautiful colour.

See my step by step guide on how to make.

You will need:

some tissue or crepe paper about 10 sheets to the size you want

fine wire

inks/dyes (or beetroot juice)

PVA glue

scissors

glitter

::cut your paper in to squares, layer them on top of each other and fold in to a concertina fan::

::dip the end of your paper in to the dye::

::ensure you dip both ends and leave a gap for the dye to bleed into the paper::

::once you have done this you will need to carefully separate each sheet and leave to dry, I put mine on the radiator for super quick drying::

::once dry lay them neatly on top of each other again::

::refold into a fan shape::

::bend in the middle::

::cut your ends to the required shape, they can be pointed, rounded whatever takes your fancy::

::cut a length of wire about 20cm long and wrap this around the middle crease of your folded paper::



::fashion a hanging loop by twisting the wire together::



::and looping at the end::

::carefully start to unfold each layer of tissue paper from each side, take your time and try to pull each layer out fully::

::keep shaping the paper until you get a full round pom pom::



Taking it Further

::mix PVA glue with water and glitter and gently paint a thin payer on to your pom pom to get a shimmer effect::

:: add another pom pom this ones made from crepe paper for added texture and contrast::

Pin It

#Monday Moodboard - it's my 100th post!

I've been blogging since March and have reached my 100th post, something of a small yet significant milestone. When looking at my first few months of blogging I've improved in leaps and bounds. Lets hope there's even more improvement in the next 100 posts! This weeks moodboard marks my 100th post.

Have a wonderful week.

Pin It

Marbling - satisfaction guaranteed

Marbling, it's such an old school technique that most of us would have had a go at in primary school. The random and unique nature of each piece adds to the satisfaction, some of the outcomes remind me of ordinance survey maps.

Pin It