asian beef noodle soup

I had been eyeing this soup recipe in the Looneyspoons cookbook for a while now, but never had the opportune time to make it. G isn’t a fan of soup. He also isn’t a fan of spinach or broccoli so a soup, combining the two ingredients probably wouldn’t go over well! That being said, he was out last night and I decided to subject the two boys to my culinary experiments, instead. I loved it! They, however, weren’t a fan of the “salad” in their soup but devoured the noodles, broccoli and beef. Not a total failure!  I’ll definitely be making this again as I really enjoyed it!

4 oz uncooked soba noodles (I used Udon noodles)
6 cups sodium reduced beef broth
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp each soy sauce, grated ginger root, toasted sesame oil, and feshly squeezed lime juice
12 ounces (340 g) beef tenderloin, thinly sliced (I’m too cheap for beef tenderloin and just used a NY strip I found on sale which I also sliced very thinly)
1 cup broccoli florets, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/4 each of chopped fresh mint leaves, and chopped fresh basil leaves (I omitted the mint as we aren’t fans)
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup bean sprouts

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain well, rinse with cold water and drain again. Set aside until soup is ready to serve.

In a large soup pot, combine beef broth, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, ginger root, sesame oil, and lime juice. Bring to a boil. reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 minutes.

Add beef, spinach, broccoli, green onions, mint and basil. Simmer for 5 more minutes, just until beef is cooked through. Taste soup and add salt and pepper if desired.

To serve soup, place some cooked noodles in the bottom of a soup bowl, top with bean sprouts and ladle soup over top. Serve hot.

grilled asian steak salad

grilled asian steak salad

I’m on a mission to use up more beef that’s been sitting in my freezer for a few months. I’m not going through the ¼ cow we bought fast enough and now that it’s BBQ season, I figure I’ll try and have a few more beef meals a week. It was dreadfully humid here this afternoon and I’d decided there was no way in hell I was turning on the oven or using the stove. We have no AC and my house does not need the additional heat! I decided to marinate an eye of round steak I had in the freezer and serve it with a fresh summer salad. I didn’t intend on the kids actually eating anything aside from the meat (they’re a carnivorous bunch, like their daddy) but I was pleasantly surprised when they demanded salad and vegetables! I was more than happy to comply.

I marinated my steak using the marinade recipe I shared a few weeks ago. You can find it here.

This here is the recipe for the salad and the dressing I whipped up. While the recipe and ingredients in itself aren’t really Asian, the flavours are and hence the name I decided to give it.

Grilled Asian Steak Salad
Dressing
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp ginger, minced
2 tsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp sriracha
1/2-1 tsp sweet chili sauce

Salad
5-6 cups romaine lettuce, rinsed and chopped
1 bell pepper (red, orange or yellow are prettiest!) julienned
1 medium carrot, julienned
1/2 English cucumber, thinly sliced
3-4 green onions, sliced diagonally
1 avocado, sliced

1 to 1.5 lbs of marinated flank steak (or other cut of meat)

To make the dressing, whisk together all the ingredients and pour over salad ingredients. Toss then slice the steak thinly and serve on top.

This is the whole meal on one plate. Please don’t think I can eat all that in one sitting… Well. I probably could. But I wouldn’t want you thinking, or knowing it!

I had some leftover cupcakes from the weekend. It’s also strawberry season (hurrah!). I decided to improvise on dessert and whipped these babies up for the fam. I think I want seconds…