Healthy Thai Beef Tacos | How Sweet It Is

Thai Beef Tacos.

February 27, 2012

Goodbye fun weekend stuff.

Goodbye two bottles of wine. Goodbye truffle fries. Goodbye accidental on purpose three hour afternoon nap. Goodbye entire bag of pita chips I ate at 4PM yesterday. Goodbye massive burger on buttery buns. Goodbye dumb movie marathons. Goodbye SPIKED MARSHMALLOW FLUFF MILKSHAKE.

Uhhhh OMG.

But no fear, I’ll see you in five days.

Maybe two, since I possess no self control. You can probably find me on the couch.

Helllllo Monday.

You’re cute. Sometimes.

I’ll allow you to be delicious.

And seriously… this is one of the most delicious dinners we’ve had since… well… I made the last delicious dinner we had.

Growing up, we ate tacos every single week, but anything other than ground beef was considered sacrilegious in our non-cultured culinary bubble. These days I still make tacos at least once every ~~two~~ seven days, but the beef rarely makes an appearance. I’m all about the chicken or shrimp. Or just the guac and the cheese. Or um… just the margaritas. Specifically the salt.

Oh and the tequila.

Now? I’m all about the steak. Alllll about it. My husband just died when I said that. It’s like he put on Kate Beckinsale-ified goggles when looking at me.

Yesssss.

The icing on the cake here is the crushed peanuts. They bring an extra pop of flavor that I just want to eat with a spoon. Chomp chomp. I could NOT get enough. I had two for lunch. Then two for a snack. Then at like 10PM, two more for a… snack? Worth it.

Thai Beef Tacos

[thai beef adapted from williams sonoma thai beef salad]

serves 2-4

1 1/2 pounds flank steak

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

marinade

3/4 cup light (canned) coconut milk

1 tablespoon sesame oil

4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro

1/3 cup sweet chili sauce

quick mango salsa

1/2 mango, chopped

1 shallot, diced

1 jalapeno, diced

2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro

a sprinkle each of sugar, salt & pepper

tacos

1 teaspoon canola oil

8-10 corn tortillas

1/2 cup sweet chili sauce

1/4 cup peanuts, chopped

green leaf or romaine + fresh cilantro for topping

Sprinkle flank steak with salt and pepper. Combine coconut milk, sesame oil, chili sauce, garlic, ginger, sugar and cilantro in a bowl and whisk. Add flank steak to a ziplock bag or a shallow baking dish and pour marinade overtop. Refrigerate and let sit for 6-24 hours.

When ready to prepare, remove steak from fridge and let sit for 20-30 minutes. In a bowl, combine mango, shallot, jalapeno, salt, sugar and pepper, mix thoroughly, then set aside. Heat a large oven-safe skillet (like cast iron) over high heat. At the same time, preheat the broiler in your oven. (You can also grill the steak if you wish.) Using a pastry brush, brush oil onto the skillet so there is only a very thin layer. Remove steak from marinade with kitchen tongs, placing in the skillet. Sear on both sides for 2-3 minutes. Remove skillet and place is the oven directly under the broiler. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then flip and cook for 3-4 minutes more. This resulted in medium-medium well meat for us, but is totally dependent on the thickness of your steak and your desired doneness. Our steak was about an inch thick.

Remove skillet from over, and place steak on a cutting board to rest for 15-20 minutes. At this time, assemble your tortillas (warm them if desired), salsa, extra chili sauce for drizzling and cilantro. After the steak has rested, slice it into thin strips. Assemble tacos as desired and eat!

Note: with 2 side dishes, this meal should serve about 4 people, however with no side dishes, and just the tacos, 2 of us devoured it completely.