Crunchy Rice Noodle Salad

Next Sunday, July 17, SLO Farm will have the following offerings at the Fairmount Neighborhood Farmers Market:


Cherries
Green Cabbage
Snap Peas
Bietola
Lettuce
Flat Leaf Parsley
Potatoes
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Fresh garlic
Eggs
Honey

Crunchy snap peas and cucumber are the perfect accompaniment to an Asian rice noodle salad. We had barbecued a flank steak over the weekend and the leftovers made a delicious second appearance seared in a sweet chile paste and layered on dressed rice noodles, in a loose adaptation of a recipe from Cooking Light magazine. Then we passed around vegetables, herbs, and peanuts, and everyone composed their salad as desired. I recommend a 1:1 ratio of greens to noodles.

Rice Noodle Salad with Seared Beef, Snap Peas, Cucumbers, and Herbs

Dressed noodles
8 ounces dried rice stick noodles
1/2 cup water 

3 Tbsp granulated sugar 

3 Tbsp rice vinegar 

2 Tbsps fresh lime juice 

1 1/2 Tbsp fish sauce 


3/4 tsp Sriracha hot chile sauce

3 garlic cloves, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced

Beef and toppings
3/4 lb flank steak
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp Sriracha hot chile sauce

1 tsp fish sauce
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch match sticks
1/2 lb snap peas, stemmed

1 large handful basil leaves
1 bunch cilantro leaves
peanuts

1. Put the rice noodles in bowl and cover with boiling water. Let soften for about 20 minutes, drain, and set aside.

2. Prepare the dressing by combining all of the remaining ingredients in a small sauce pan. Heat until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the softened rice noodles.

3. Prepare the flank steak. Sprinkle both sides with a pinch of salt. Mix the brown sugar, chile sauce, and fish sauce into a paste and reserve. Heat a skillet, such as cast iron over medium high heat. Sear the steak on one side for about 6 minutes, then flip and sear on the second side for about 4 minutes, until cooked to about medium. Remove to a cutting board, coat with the chile paste on both sides, let rest for 10 minutes. Slice thinly against the grain, top the dressed rice noodles with beef slices and drizzle over juices from the carving. You can also use left over flank steak. In this case, slice the cooked flank steak, coat the slices with the brown sugar and chile paste, and sear them quickly in a hot skillet.

4. Serve the noodles and seared beef. Garnish with heaps of cucumber sticks, snap peas, and fresh herbs, and sprinkle with peanuts. Serves three to four.