Salad

Asian Vegetable Slaw

To go with Pioneer Woman’s flank steak, I was in search of a side dish.  Rice would have been fine, and then maybe a salad or some steamed asparagus.  But that just seemed kinda boring and not the perfect summer side.

Thankfully, I came across a perfect summer side dish recipe from Erin at vittles for the voracious.  This salad would a great accompaniment to the grilled steak and the Asian flavors.

The salad has tons of yummy, crisp vegetables.  It tastes fresh but still has a great rich flavor thanks to the dressing.  You can change this recipe to fit your likes and needs.  Add any other vegetables that you like.  Erin suggests water chestnuts, broccoli florets, snow peas, and asparagus pieces.  Along with the recipe required broccoli slaw and edamame, I added extra purple cabbage and snow peas.

For the dressing I used Brianna’s Ginger Mandarin dressing, 1 tablespoon of peanut butter and 1 teaspoon hot chili sauce.  I don’t like a dressing-drenched salad, so this was just enough to get the flavor without losing the vegetables.

Here is Vittles link, and here is my variation.  This is a great salad.  Thanks, Erin!

Asian Vegetable Slaw

Ingredients

Salad:

  • 1 package (10 oz) broccoli slaw mix
  • 1 cup red cabbage, chopped
  • 1 can mandarin oranges, drained
  • 2 cups shelled edamame
  • 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
  • 1 cup blanched snap peas

Dressing:

  • 1/3 cup Asian dressing (I used Brianna’s Ginger Mandarin)
  • 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
  • 1 teaspoon hot chili sauce

Directions

  1. Combine all vegetables (and mandarins) in a large bowl and toss together.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk dressing, peanut butter and chili sauce.
  3. Pour sauce over the vegetables and toss well.
  4. Chill until ready to serve.

Korean BBQ with the Kims

While in Durango we ate out twice; once at a private restaurant on Electra Lake and then at a bar called Olde Schoolhouse Cafe.  I ate a tuna steak with a watermelon, blueberry and mint relish at Electra Lake and yummy vegetarian pizza at the Schoolhouse.

The other nights at the house we cooked.  My sister Lisa and her husband Randy offered to make Bulgogi one night.  We were all pretty excited about the menu and that excitement only increased as they started cooking.  The combination of sesame oil, toasted sesame seeds, soy, ginger and garlic were so incredible.  Along with the beef and chicken Bulgogi, we had white rice, kimchee, pot stickers and a salad of thinly sliced cucumbers, bean sprouts, and scallions with crispy fried scallions and rice wine sesame dressing.

kbbq2

kbbq8Bulgogi means “fire meat” in Korean because it is traditionally grilled over an open flame, but can be cooked in a pan.  Randy did the grilling.  Grilled meat always smells good, but the marinade on the chicken and beef made for an especially wonderful aroma wafting from the grill downstairs to the kitchen window.  I always find it funny how men seem to flock to a heated grill.  Once the first tray of meat went to the grill every man in the house grabbed a beer and headed outside to help supervise.  This attraction of men to a fire will always amaze me.

The meat is sliced thin and wrapped in large lettuce leaves usually spread with ssamjang, the jar of spicy red sauce you find in the Asian food aisle.  When we ate this meal, we also put rice in the lettuce leaf.  It was delicious.

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