Beef and rice noodle herb salad with Thai basil pesto

Beef and Rice Noodle Herb Salad with Thai Basil Pesto

This creation came about after bringing an ‘Asian pesto’ back from a shoot years ago. It morphed into this recipe and I have cooked it time and time again since then. The pesto is really versatile and works spooned along side a grilled piece of fish and just with the steak on it’s own.

 

200g (7 oz) flat rice stick noodles

2 eshallots, peeled and thinly sliced

The juice of 1 lime

400g (14 oz) skirt steak, room temperature

½ tbsp rice bran oil

1 (130g/4 ½ oz) Lebanese cucumber, thinly sliced

½ cup each of coriander, mint & Thai basil leaves

salted roasted peanuts and black sesame seeds, to serve

Thai basil pesto

1 cup each Thai basil & coriander leaves

1/3 cup (50g/1 ½ oz) unsalted roasted peanuts

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 tbsps sesame oil

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

 

Cook the noodles in a saucepan of boiling water for 6-8 minutes or until just tender. Drain, reserving ½ cup of cooking water. Combine the eshallots and lime juice in a bowl and set aside for 20 minutes to pickle.

 

Meanwhile, to make the Thai basil pesto, place all ingredients in a bowl of a food processor and process until roughly combined. Set aside.

 

Heat a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Drizzle the steak with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 3-4 minutes each side for medium or until cooked to your liking. Transfer to a plate and loosely cover with foil. Set aside for 10 minutes to rest.

 

Place the noodles in a bowl with the pesto (add as much or as little pesto as you like, depending on your taste you may have some pesto left over) and add some of the cooking water to loosen the pesto slightly. The rice noodles absorb a lot of water so continue to add some of the water if you need to loosen further.

 

Divide the noodles between serving plates and top with the eshallots, cucumber and herbs. Slice the steak and place on top and finish with the peanuts and sesame seeds.

 

Serves 4.

Dairy Free Recipe

You can order the full e-book at the following link : Kirsten Jenkins “One Leaf at a Time” 

 

Image and Styling: Kirsten Jenkins

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