Seared Skirt Steak Salad with Lime-Ginger Vinaigrette

Henry and I are "bad" Asians.

He is Vietnamese and I am Chinese (and part Cambodian). The number of times food of our culture appears in our home is miniscule. In fact, we consume brown rice (stead of white) and the 10 lb. bag I purchased almost a year ago still filled up nearly all of its storage container up until a few days ago when we had to toss it due to the development of pantry moths in the batch (GROSS--I still have nightmares). I don't even have a bottle of soy sauce in the kitchen at the moment, our Siracha will most likely last us past the expiration date, and we didn't buy chopsticks until last April.

I told you, we're "bad" Asians.

We love Asian food, we just hardly consume or cook it for ourselves. However, when I do cook dishes that I learned from my mother, it is a pretty big deal. These include traditional dumplings, noodle soups, and basic stir-fry dishes. It's also a pretty noteworthy when I make Asian-inspired dishes-- mostly because I adore ginger and it's usually a key ingredient.

Too bad I use the pre-crushed ginger you can purchase in jars from the market. See? Bad Asian.

Sorry, mama. Now when you tell me to use a piece of ginger "the size of my thumb", I just use a measuring spoon. Eep!

Nevertheless, you can trust that this "bad" Asian, made a pretty amazing Asian-ish salad.

Henry and I eat a lot of greens and this meal is a great example of our usual complete-meal-definitely-not-just-romaine-and-croutons-salad. The best part about this skirt steak salad is the dressing-- if you don't prefer steak, you can easily substitute chicken for it (or even leave it out). Honestly, there's nothing to this dish besides finding whatever veggies look good to me or I have in the fridge. Tonight, I placed the skirt steak on top of a bed of mixed spring greens, arugula, spinach, shaved carrots, bell peppers, cilantro, avocado, and sliced almonds. A drizzle of the super flavorful and refreshing Lime-Ginger Vinaigrette ties everything together! Yum!

Seared Skirt Steak
adapted from Real Simple

1 1/4 lb skirt steak
salt and pepper
olive oil

1. If the skirt steak is quite large, cut it into sections so that it can fit on the skillet. Season both sides with salt and pepper to taste (I prefer about 1/4 tsp of salt and pepper per side). Heat about 1 tbsp of olive oil on a skillet. Add the steak and cook each side on medium-high heat for about 4-5 minutes for medium rare (or longer for your desired temperature). Transfer the meat to a cutting board and allow it to rest for 5-8 minutes before slicing it.

Lime-Ginger Vinaigrette
makes about 1/2 cup

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 1/2 tsp wasabi paste
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
juice of 1/2 large lime (about 1 tbsp)
1 tbsp sesame seeds
salt and pepper

1. In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients, except for salt and pepper. Use a whisk to thoroughly combine all the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste.