Thai(ish) Coconut Peanut Noodle and Veg Salad with Grilled Steak

Summer pasta salad fatigue setting in yet? Getting tired of the same pasta salads over and over again? You know what I mean...macaroni salad - been there, bow-tie pasta salad - done that, all the mayo-based or Italian-salad-dressing-doused or from-the-box-ala-Suddenly-Salad kinda salads that turn up on every picnic and dinner table in America. Ho hum. What to do...what to do....

Bored and in the mood for a little something different - and just maybe a little exotic - I set about making a Thai-inspired noodle salad with a box of Annie Chun Pad Thai noodles I had on the pantry shelf. The warm salad included lots of bright green basil, broccoli and spinach, crisp sprouts, a little heat of finely slivered jalapeno, freshly squeezed lime juice, sweet and creamy coconut milk accented with umami flavors of peanut butter, fish sauce (don't turn up your nose...it doesn't taste fishy, just adds BIG Thai notes) and tamari.

To serve this one-dish-meal-in-a-salad, we grilled up a cap steak from the rib eye, sliced it into medallions before laying it lovingly atop the salad, scattered crunchy, salty peanuts over all and garnished the whole thing with extra basil and lime to taste. The result? I'm positive our tastebuds gave an appreciative standing ovation to the salad excitement they beheld (and be-tasted?). Vive la summer pasta salad différence! 

Thai(ish) Coconut Peanut Noodle and Veg Salad 

with Grilled Steak

Serves 4

• 2 ribeye cap steaks - or your favorite cut, seasoned and grilled how you like it - 1/2 steak per person

• 8 ounces rice noodles, pad Thai style (I used Annie Chun brand), cooked according to package directions - al dente - drain in a colander and rinse well with cold water - set aside

• 1 cup fresh spinach, julienned
• 6 medium basil leaves, fresh, cut into chiffonade
• 1/2 large jalapeno chile pepper, seeds and ribs removed, sliced thinly into slivers 1/4" long
• 1 cup bean sprouts, fresh, rinsed and dried
• 1 cup peanuts, salted - reserve 1/4 cup for garnish
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 cup broccoli florets, cut into small pieces

• 3/4 cup lite coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
• 2 teaspoons tamari soy sauce, wheat-free to make this GF or regular soy sauce if gluten isn't an issue for you
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce

Make the salad ahead of time and grill the steak the way you like before serving.
 
Mix the dressing ingredients - coconut milk through fish sauce - in a bowl until the peanut butter is thoroughly incorporated and pour over the cooked noodles. Add the spinach, basil, jalapeno, sprouts salt, broccoli and salt. Toss well until all the veggies, noodles and sauce are well-combined. Arrange the salad on a platter and top with sliced steak and garnish with the rest of the peanuts and lime to squeeze as needed.
 
NOTE: Feel free to make this by itself without the steak for a lovely side dish!

Japanese Sweet Potato Red Curry Soup with Coconut

How do YOU choose a sweet potato? You know, to be sure you get the sweetest, most flavorful of the bunch?  I was taught that the darker the outside of the sweet potato, richer and sweeter the flavor.  And I've found it to be true over the years.  Which brings me to how I ended up finding a whole new variety I never knew existed...and that I think is even better than all the rest, though decidedly different. 
 
I was stalking the perfect sweet potato in the aisles of Whole Foods just looking for the best ones possible for Christmas dinner. At the top of the display there were some very dark red, almost purple, sweet potatoes...that HAD to be the best ever.  The sign said "Garnet Sweet Potatoes."  Great!
 
Christmas dinner preparations began and the sweet potatoes were tucked into the oven for a good roasting. Later, upon cutting them open at the dinner table, we found not soft, dark orange flesh, but a firmer potato of a soft golden color.  My selection method had failed!  But did it really?  


Once buttered, seasoned and TASTED, we soon found these were no ordinary sweet potatoes.  Both the texture and taste were somewhere between an Idaho baking potato and a sweet potato. And we like them even better! And we wanted more!
 
The next trip to Whole Foods, I headed straight to the same table and found the sign had been changed. The "Garnet" designation now had been moved to another area and a new sign declared my new favorite potato "Japanese Sweet Potatoes."  Aha! So I bought another bunch of them and spread the word to potato pickers next to me.  They bought them, too. Now what to do with them other than a simple baking...not that there's anything wrong with that.
 
And so I adapted the old standard Houlihan's Baked Potato Soup into a whole new recipe.  I used coconut milk in place of milk, I added Thai Red Curry Paste and toasted coconut, a curry hot sauce that I recently got as a gift from a dear, sweet friend ...plain old potato soup was transformed into something a little sweet, a little hot, and just a little exotic.  And totally delicious!

Japanese Sweet Potato Red Curry Soup with Coconut

• 2 med Japanese sweet potatoes, baked, peeled and cubed
• 3 T butter (or even better, coconut oil!)
• 2 cups diced onions
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup instant potato flakes
• 2 t hot sauce (I used a lovely curry hot sauce, but use your favorite) 
• 2 T Thai red curry paste
• 1 t Thai fish sauce
• 1 cup fat free evaporated milk
• 1 can light coconut milk
• salt and pepper, to taste
• sliced green onions
• 1/2 cup toasted coconut flakes

• Melt butter (or coconut oil) in soup pot & add onions. Saute over low heat for 10 minutes or until onions are translucent.
• Add cornstarch and Thai red curry paste to onions and cook 4-5 minutes, stirring well.
• Add potato flakes to a large bowl, gradually add chicken stock stirring to incorporate well. 
• Add slowly to onion mixture, stirring constantly over medium heat and continue cooking to a gentle simmer.
• Add evaporated milk and coconut milk, stirring until smooth and slightly thickened. Simmer gently for 15 minutes. Do not boil.
• Add potatoes, hot sauce and fish sauce, simmer gently for another 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat, ladle into bowls, top with sliced green onions and toasted coconut flakes.