Thai Beef Salad
The holidays are fun! Fancy cookies, colorful pies, glorious desserts! Stop me before I bake again!
Thai Beef Salad
Yes, I think it’s time for a salad. Something like this super easy, tasty Thai Beef Salad!
Recently I attended a fun and interesting dinner sponsored by the Wisconsin Soybean Association. And a surprising thing that I learned is that a soy goes into the feed of many meat animals. So besides eating some delicious soy foods, we were treated to pork and beef dishes! Mmmm!
Thai Beef Salad Trio
It was in a cookbook (Beef It’s What’s for Dinner: Our All-Time Favorites) from this event where I discovered this recipe–originally served on baked wonton “chips”. Nutritious to begin with, the health value ramps-up even more when served on lettuce and topped with a pile of julienned carrots. I did add some wonton strips for a little fun and crunch—can’t go all healthy too fast!
The salad was a hit with everyone in my family. A bit of exotic flavor, 1/4 pound of hearty beef per serving, lots of healthy vegetables and a little crunch! Clearly a crowd pleaser! Add a little bread or baked wonton chips and you have a complete meal in a snap!
Finishing Thai Beef Salad
The holidays were fun but exhausting. So to start 2016, I have resolved to pace myself better! Make a few healthy, easy, high return on investment dishes like this, interspersed with some challenging dishes (like the mini pumpkin swirl cheesecake, that I still don’t have right…).
Thai Beef Salad–Easy to Make!
With a start like this… I am psyched! 
- 1 pound extra lean Ground Beef
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce or Tamari
- 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 4-6 cups of cleaned lettuce (about 1/2 head of romaine)
- 1 large carrot (or two small), julienned (or about 4 oz of pre-cut julienned carrots)
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (juice from 1 lime)
- Optional garnish: fried or baked wonton strips, cilantro, red bell pepper strips, sliced green onion, shelled edamame
- Heat large pan over medium heat until hot. Add ground beef and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, mashing with a spoon, stirring, and breaking into 1/2-inch crumbles. When meat is cooked, drain fat if needed (very lean beef may not need to be drained).
- Combine water, peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic powder, ground ginger and crushed red pepper. Stir into beef and continue to cook until heated through, about 2 to 3 minutes
- Divide lettuce among four plates. Spoon warm ground beef mixture on top. Top with julienned carrots and any other desired toppings. Drizzle with lime juice.
I a trying to incorporate more raw greens and veggies into my diet now that the long stretch of the holiday season is over. This salad looks delicious and exactly what I want to be eating more of.
With the meat, even my husband looked at this as “real” food–and of course I loved getting two vegetables between the carrot and lettuce!
This looks really good! I’m trying so hard to do a better job of menu planning this year, so I’ll have to add this into my plan somewhere.
You know what I always found most helpful in meal planning Lynn (when juggling three young kids)? I always made sure I had contingency plans–so if I had a real horrible day I didn’t need to force myself to make a normal energy meal. So if I forgot to thaw the chicken, or I got yelled at at work, or one of the kids was sick and crying constantly, I’d go super easy on the fly. Pull something (homemade) out of the freezer, or brown some meat and add jarred spaghetti sauce for spaghetti, with a bagged salad… I don’t know if I had more tough days than most people, but this happened a lot 😉
Yes – this is the best meal planning advice! This happens to me quite frequently, haha! Also – made this recipe this week when my SIL was over for dinner and it got rave reviews from everyone! 🙂
So happy to hear that you enjoyed this recipe Lynn. I am only sad that I have so much stored food, I feel guilty buying lettuce for this!
This might just be what we are having for dinner tonight! Really! Sounds perfect – comforting and flavorful!
This was really great – perfect for a rainy desert evening! We both loved it.
I am so happy this worked out David! Thanks for letting me know!
Looks terrific! And, yes I need this after the holidays!
Yes, that makes two of us!