Thai Beef Salad is not only quick and easy to prepare but is also versatile since you can pretty much include any seasonal fresh vegetables you prefer. This version is bursting with flavors from the grilled beef and refreshing lime and lemongrass dressing!
My husband doesn’t read my blog. Or any blog. Okay, he doesn’t read, period. Unless it’s about sports or about space.
Or about sports in space.
And rocket propulsion.
Okay, so he reads, but not about important stuff like food and recipes. And definitely not my blog!
Last weekend, however, I needed another pair of eyes and another set of brains. All because of this new self-hosting conundrum. I wanted opinions other than my own. And what better opinion to get than from someone who doesn’t read food blogs?
Immediately he saw a few design flaws. He was unable, for instance, to go to my individual posts, not knowing that you have to click on the title of the post to get there. And once he was in a particular post, he didn’t know how to get to the home page.
All problematic, certainly. Something I will need to spend time thinking about. Thinking… My brain hurts just thinking about it.
I prefer to think I’m just dealing with someone who is totally clueless. When it comes to blog reading, that is. He’s definitely not clueless about rocket propulsion!
And what does he know, anyway? He’s a man!
Just kidding, alright?! I happen to know that men are every bit as smart as women.
But that wasn’t even what got me here today. It was what he said after looking through the blog for a few minutes.
He said and I quote… Don’t you ever talk about serious food?
Ouch! That hurt! I was actually clutching my chest for a good minute before I could respond. And my response was…and I quote… Don’t you have anything to do? Like read about sports in space? Or rocket propulsion?
So he scrammed! And I was left, once again, with my blog, all by myself. Just the way I like it. I think. For now…
Anyway, I suppose if I had put a chunk of beef in the middle of my blog, he would be more impressed.
So, that’s exactly what I did.
I put this big chunk of grilled meat in the middle of my blog.
Which I turned into Thai Beef Salad later on.
Thai Beef Salad
There are 2 must-order items for me whenever I go to a Thai restaurant. Pad Thai and Thai Beef Salad. The one easier to duplicate at home is Thai Beef Salad.
In fact, it is so easy to make that I’m beginning to wonder why I even bother ordering this at the restaurant.
I love that you can even use leftover steak to make it. And you can vary the vegetables.
However, I’d suggest that you keep your vegetable choices simple. This is, after all, Thai BEEF salad. So BEEF should be the primary ingredient. Typically, slices of cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions are added, along with lettuce leaves.
But I like to put thinly sliced fennel in mine. It’s definitely neither Thai nor traditional, but trust me, it works! Fennel has that aroma and flavor reminiscent of Thai basil, in my opinion. I think that’s why it blends in so perfectly in a Thai salad. Besides, I’m totally crushing on fennel at the moment.
I suppose I should really call this Thai-style Beef Salad with that addition of fennel. Oh, but the fennel is so good in that salad! So crunchy and bright and refreshing! I found myself fishing for the fennel. You really must try it!
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons finely minced lemon grass (use the tender inner part only, about 2-inch long)
- 1 small shallot or garlic, finely minced
- A pinch of red pepper flakes
- A pinch of black pepper
- 1 lb beef steak (NY strip or rib eye), grilled to your preference, rested and cooled before slicing
- Fresh vegetables such as cucumbers, fennels, tomatoes or red onions, sliced thinly
- Fresh lettuce leaves, torn into pieces
- Cilantro leaves
- Mint leaves
- Mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl.
- Whisk to combine.
- Mix beef and vegetable slices in a big bowl.
- Pour salad dressing and toss to combine.
- Put a layer of lettuce leaves on serving plates.
- Place beef salad on top of lettuce. Garnish with mint and cilantro leaves. Serve immediately.
If you like this recipe, please give it a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating in the comments section below. Thanks!
Pin This To make Later!
Well, sometimes you really need another set of eyes and brain when it comes to stuffs like your blog. I don’t know about others, but I always turn to my very good friend. I read my draft so many times but she always finds mistakes (mostly missing words). She also suggests foods to make for the blog when I don’t know how to choose from those mountain-top recipes. 😀
And let’s go to this salad – I haven’t tried salad with beef yet. I don’t know from which mountain I lived for the past 33 years of my life that I didn’t know beef salad exists. 😐 This looks really mouth-watering, Angie. When I go to a Thai resto, I know what to order next time. Or better make my own, yes? See at FF, Angie. xx
It’s nice having a friend that you can rely on, isn’t it? I generally can rely on my husband except when blogging and food are concerned. He’s clueless about blogging and he’d be suggesting steaks all the time!! 😀 And yes, you must try Thai Beef Salad! It’s so yummy it’s called Yum Neua in Thai! 😀
Point Mr. Rocket Scientist over to my blog. Maybe I can get him to read a little. 🙂
I did show him a couple of your posts and I remember he enjoyed them! But I can’t remember what the posts were about. Could have been your riddle posts or that clever piece you wrote about how to determine the day of any date. Or was that Melanie’s? Is she the clever one? 😀
You always make serious food – seriously good food!!! Cheeky man! 😉
My husband never reads my blog either…he lives it all I guess!
Well, thank you Elaine! Very sweet of you to say. Yes, he’s very cheeky even if he doesn’t know he is! 😀
I’m sure he does know 😉
Hilarious, Angie! Love the recipe, the photography and even that big hunk of grilled beef. Bet that rocket scientist loves to eat what you make though and how lucky is he!!!!
He enjoyed that beef salad and thought it was a serious salad, lol! Thanks, Johanne. I’m glad you enjoyed that hunk of meat. So hard to photograph meat (brown)!
Beef salad is soooooo good. This looks delicious Angie 🙂
I know! It’s my favorite. And it’s so easy to make. I hope you’ll give it a try, Jess! So yum! Maybe that’s why it’s called Yum Neua in Thai! 🙂
Sports in space: maybe you’ve found the cross-over point of my sports-made husband and my sci-fi loving son.
Love Thai beef salad, too. Thanks for the great photos.
Hey, that could be an idea for a movie! Like Martians playing sports! 😀 And maybe they’ll be eating Thai beef salad! 😀 Thanks, Mermaid, so glad you enjoyed this!
Delicious! I agree with the steak, I think it might be a man thing! 🙂
I know what you mean. My husband and son can have it every day! My daughter really prefers vegetables; she’s the “almost vegetarian” in the family 🙂 She and I do eat steaks but we can’t have them everyday!
What surprises me is that you weren’t clutching his chest! Obviously you have self-restraint. 🙂
Lovely photos, as usual. That plate’s just great.
I should have! The nerve!! And to think I cook him whatever he wants whenever he wants!! Well, mostly. Okay, sometimes 😀
I know you’d appreciate a pretty plate. I’m looking for yellow now. I don’t have any in that color.
Oh Angie, so funny! I don’t have a husband but my brother has been both a support and a detractor! I don’t think he spends much time reading food blogs, either! He did happen to go to mine to look for a recipe when he was visiting the folks and happened across my photo of Reuben potstickers.
I was so proud of my shot of the potsticker, open, dipping into the sauce (I wanted to show the inside and had to be close to get it) and he reacted very, very negatively! He said we should be eating the food, it shouldn’t look like the food is going to eat you! LOL! Big, giant potsticker, I guess!
So I know I have no perspective sometimes!! Your posts and photos are always so gorgeous, and with FF, I always have lots of inspiration! Plus, I always want to put my best foot forward!
Thanks for all you do!
LOL, that’s funny! Somehow I don’t remember anything unusual from that post. I only remember how much I loved the recipe and idea! Now I’ll have to go back and see the giant potsticker, haha… Thanks for being a wonderful FF friend, Ms. Frau!
My pleasure – but I made the photo a bit smaller. Now it can only eat off a small appendage and not the whole person!
I agree with Elaine, you always make seriously good food! Beef salad looks so good! Love the flowers and the presentation!
Aaw…you guys are just so sweet! The flowers added a lot to the presentation, of course. But I’m afraid I was just borrowing from Mother Nature 🙂
What a beautifully presented dish Angie. You have such a great way of plating your dishes…..the ingredients in this dish sound just up my alley.
Thank you, Loretta! Really you are so kind! The peach flowers did all the work! Imagine the dish without them. Not so pretty, does it? 🙂 I hope you’ll give this a try!
Looks delicious! And I agree, it’s one of those easy, tasty things that you always wonder why you don’t make it more often. I agree on how great fennel is too (it’s going in a salad I’m posting next week). Oh, and my husband never reads my blog either – same goes for sports, but colliding atoms and the like rather than rockets 🙂
I’m going to make a point not to order this anymore. That way I can try other things! Oh, looking forward to your fennel salad. I bought 2 more bulbs today. Humongous! I ate half like an apple and my daughter laughed at me. My son thought I was insane! Whatever! Anyway, are you sure our husbands are not twins?! 😀
Why is it that our husbands don’t read out blogs? I think you said it..they live it. Anyway, love your new site Angie and always love what you are doing. I thought of you today when I saw all those dandelion flowers in my backyard. I remember your post last year…fritters!
Been eating dandelions for about a week now, Seana! I just popped them in my mouth, haha… But today the lawn guy came and treated it. It’s organic but I’m not taking chances. I’ll wait for another week.
So glad you like the new site! You’re up for co-hosting FF, aren’t you? 😀
So funny! It is just best not to involve the husbands in the blog business…at least that is in my experience! I love your Thai Beef Salad, and I really think that your self-hosted blog is transforming beautifully!
You are so lucky to have such beautiful blossoms in your yard, Angie!! Maybe in my new home I will have the same! 🙂
How’s the move? Stressful and exciting at the same time, I’m sure! Keep us posted! It would be so much fun when you start that garden! Then we can compare notes. I’m going to take your suggestion and let my husband stick to his sports pages! 😀 I’m glad you like the blog. That’s comforting to know! XOXO
This salad looks delicious, and I must admit that I would like to read about sports in space too. Also, for comfort, the page is super easy to navigate if you do read a lot of food blogs. Of course, as a party space, it will be great if those who read less blogs (aka: sport pages) can navigate it too. 🙂
There’s really not that much I can do about navigation, anyway. The page it set as is by the theme. And it looks pretty standard. I might provide a “home” button if that makes it easier but I myself rarely hit anybody’s home button. My husband really is clueless! He even thought the little comment count bubbles stand for how many people link to my Fiesta Friday party! Duh! 😀
Silly goose! I love seeing more decorations/links popping up on the sidebars too. 🙂
This totally made me laugh, I can picture the scenario perfectly because my husband is the same way! Well I’m sure he would be impressed now, I know I am! Looks delicious and beautiful pictures. I’ll have to make this for my husband, I have a feeling he’d love it 😉
He WAS pretty impressed with the salad. He thought it tasted just like the one from the restaurant but even better since he got more beef! Do try the recipe and let me know what you think! 🙂
What do men know!! Nothing important anyway hehe! This salad looks awesome, so yummy – I love the addition of fennel
Personally I find the site really easy to navigate, but then I do read a lot of blogs!
Men don’t know nothing!! See what I did there, haha… A lot of people say that to mean one thing, but really they’re saying another thing. I think the page is easy to navigate myself, don’t know what the hubs was really saying 😀
This is stunning Angie the photography of course and well the meal. I love Thai so shall be saving this somehow hehe, I am useless with bookmarks, no idea how to use them and one cannot reblog here so I shall start using my Pinterest for your recipes hehe. I think it’s a great idea to ask someone who is clueless to look at your blog and find their way around it, because we don’t see many of things being experienced at working our way around, it’s looking fabulous x
Thanks, darlin, I hope you’ll give this a try. Really was superb and quite healthy. The dressing doesn’t even use any oil! You can adjust the ratio of beef vs veggies, etc. I think you’re using Pinterest in the most appropriate way! I’m going to start pinning from the original blog/recipe.
yes after reading your last post I think that safe lol xx
Men! I have a medical advice post being syndicated and my husband said, “What Dear, is that a good thing?” Good thing we have other bloggers who understand us. I think your food is “serious” and seriously delicious.
Tracey
Thanks, Tracey! I think it’s best not to involve the husband in this blogging thing 🙂 But how exciting is that to have your post syndicated? Congratulations! That’s a huge achievement! Though I’m not surprised. Your blog does provide great ideas for healthy living.
What a lovely thing to say. Thank you so much.
Oh Angie, what a fab post… I’m still laughing! 😀 Possibly as it all sounds so familiar!
I’m definitely up for a little Thai Beef Salad and the addition of fennel sounds inspired to me!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post. And I find comfort knowing that I’m not the only one whose husband has no concept of how much serious work is involved in putting together a blog 😀 Please do try the salad; it really is quite delicious! Thanks, Margot!
My comment on the other post was for the Thai salad one ! Really made me smile 🙂 thanks
That’s great to hear! It’s nice to know I made you smile 🙂
Love beef! The combination of the ingredients in the salad is gorgeous, definitely trying this, Angie!
Thanks so much, Agness! Let me know how it’ll turn out for you!
this is beyond gorgeous!!