Asain Noodle Salad With Beef

Hi.  Remember when I started this blog back in April?  Mr. Schwartz and I just got married about two weeks before and I was needing something to occupy my time that had been so consumed with wedding planning.  Praise J that is over.  But, we lived in a tiny little apartment, our first place together.  It was quite wonderful.  I never had to ask "hey honey, whatcha up to?" because, I could see him from anywhere in our little place.  

Of course we have so many happy memories of being so fresh and new in our married life from our little one bedroom apartment.  In July we purchased our first house and we are still working on making it Our Home.  Wow, it takes a lot of work to get things how you would like.  My sister (in-law), Emily said that it took her at least two years to make it feel really homey and how she liked it.  Always a work in progress she also added.  I like work in progress, especially when it has to do with holidays and seasons. Oh I love seasonal decor.  But, I don't write a blog about decorating.  I write about food.

So what am I getting at?  Well, Mr. Schwartz has been out of town all week and comes back tomorrow (wee).  Since this is the case, I have been occupying my time with seeing friends (who are PREGGERS--3 weeks Katie, I can't wait to meet your little girl), family and watching TV that Mr. Schwartz surely does not want to watch with me.  Case in point, Teen Mom on tiVo.  Love.  But, since I have been so busy doing other things I haven't had much time to be in the kitchen and I have used up all of the recipes and pictures I keep in my back pocket.  Yes, I am turning into a real blogger and make things and don't post them on the same day.  I know, gasp.  

I found this recipe sitting in my drafts section and thought hey, this is a GREAT recipe why don't I share it.  Then I looked at the pictures and cringed.  Blurry, poor lighting and just quite awful.  If you can see past these early blogging days pictures I assure you the recipe is quite fantastic.  

And now, onto what I will make Mr. Schwartz for his great return!!!! 

Musical Selection: A-Punk by: Vampire Weekend.  Why am I so obsessed with them!? 

Ha.  Okay, I told you. horrific images. I'm cringing....  But, this is soy sauce, sesame seed oil, sesame seeds, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, ground ginger and some garlic.  Wow.  Mix this up in a bowl.  This will do double duty, coat your noodles for the "dressing" and be used as a marinade.

Cook a pound of spaghetti noodles and pour about 3/4th of this dressing onto the noodles.  Some people like to do this while the noodles are hot but I like to rinse the noodles with cold water until they are cool then pour over them.  I think that the oil reacts strangely with the heat.

Next dice up some veggies...red pepper.

Celery.

Green onions.

And carrots.

Toss the veggies in with the noodles.  Put the noodles in the refrigerator while you prepare the meat.  

While the noodles chill, marinate thinly sliced beef (I used sirloin steak) in the remaining dressing. I just let this sit for about 5 minutes.

Drizzle a screaming hot frying pan with some olive/canola oil and put the beef into the pan.  Cook for 3-5 minutes depending on how you like your meat.  I like mine medium well.

Top the cold noodles with the warm beef and additional sesame seeds.  See those brown bits on the meat, yep, thats what you want and what you get from using a hot, hot frying pan.

Yum.  Can't believe I let this one wait.  The combination of cold noodles and hot beef is fantastic.  

I'm glad you made it through the pictures at the beginning.  Yow, still working on it but we've come a long way baby.  

Asian Noodle Salad with Beef 

Dressing: 

1 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seed oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon sesame seeds + additional for topping

2 cloves of minced garlic (or about a tablespoon)

1/4 teaspoon (or more depending on your taste) red pepper flakes 

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 

Other Ingredients: 

1 medium sized sirloin steak

1 pound spaghetti

1 cup diced carrot

1 cup diced celery

1 red bell pepper, diced

4 green onions, diced 

Preparation: 

Start by mixing all of the dressing ingredients together.  

Pour 3/4 of the sauce over cooked spaghetti noodles that have been rinsed and are cool.  

Dice the carrot, celery, red pepper and green onions.  Add to the noodles and dressing.  Place in the refrigerator.  

Slice the steak very thinly and put into the remaining dressing.  Let stand for about 5 minutes.  

Preheat a large frying pan with a drizzle of olive/canola oil.  You want this pan to be very hot so you can sear/cook the meat quickly.  

Place the meat into the frying pan.  Cook for about 3-5 minutes depending on how "done" you want your meat.  

Plate this dish by putting the noodles and veggies in a bowl and top with warm meat and additional sesame seeds. 

Enjoy!!! 

**note that I typically also add a bit of cilantro--maybe two tablespoons or so.  

Recipe by: Mrs. Schwartz