Thai Beef Salad

The salad gets its heat from 2 tablespoons of chile paste. If you prefer milder food, use half. English cucumbers work well for quick meals because they're virtually seedless.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2  cup  fresh lime juice
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh cilantro
• 2  tablespoons  brown sugar
• 2  tablespoons  Thai fish sauce
• 2  tablespoons  chile paste with garlic
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  (1 1/2-pound) flank steak, trimmed
• Cooking spray
• 1 1/2  cups  vertically sliced red onion
• 4  plum tomatoes, each cut into 6 wedges
• 6  cups  torn romaine lettuce
• 1 1/4  cups  thinly sliced English cucumber
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh mint

Preparation

Prepare grill or broiler.

Combine first 6 ingredients, stirring until sugar dissolves; set half of lime mixture aside. Combine other half of lime mixture and steak in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 10 minutes, turning once. Remove steak from bag; discard marinade.

Place steak on grill rack or broiler pan coated with cooking spray; cook 6 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices.

Heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add tomatoes; sauté 2 minutes. Place onion mixture, lettuce, cucumber, and mint in a large bowl; toss gently to combine. Divide salad evenly among 6 plates. Top each serving with 3 ounces steak; drizzle each serving with 1 tablespoon reserved lime mixture.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

219 (35% from fat)

Fat:

8.6g (sat 3.6g,mono 3.3g,poly 0.5g)

Protein:

24.1g

Carbohydrate:

12.3g

Fiber:

2.2g

Cholesterol:

54mg

Iron:

3.1mg

Sodium:

456mg

Calcium:

44mg