Fish is for Frying. Plus Asian Salad with Flank Steak.

The dinner I made last night wasn't good.  I'd been wanting fish and chips since St. Patrick's Day so I tried, and pretty much failed, to make a lighter version.  The oven fries were pretty good, but I tried to lighten up the fish and oven bake instead of frying.  Bluck.  Lesson learned: some things just need to be deep fried.  Twinkies and Snickers bars are not amongst those things.  I'm looking at you, Minnesota State Fair.

Now that I've gleaned that little nugget of wisdom, I'm free to worry about other pressing items.  Such as what the good people of Kia were thinking when they named one of their cars something that rhymes with Kia.  Kia Sephia?  Cannot be said without sounding like an idiot.

Or, why does Ann Curry employ Dora the Explorer as her stylist?  It's hard to take her seriously when she wears a voluminous rainbow-blocked smock dress.  I'm sure they don't give guests a choice of interviewers, but if they did, I bet 10:1 would pick Matt in his tailored Zegna over Rainbow Brite.

Or, why is that British couple on House Hunters International looking to buy a condo in Turks and Caicos when they've never even been there before?  Seems a bit rash, if you ask me.  Maybe tour the islands first before you commit?

Since the fish wasn't a hit (and that's being generous), here's something that's always good.

Asian Salad (with Flank Steak)


1/2 head Napa cabbage, washed and chopped
1/2 bag baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
Any other veggies you have on hand - I've added shredded carrots, chopped snow peas, and julienned red pepper.  They look pretty.

1 package dry ramen noodles, broken up
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
3 tablespoons slivered or chopped almonds

Dressing
3 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce

1. Combine greens and any veggies in a large bowl.
2. Toast ramen, sesame seeds and almonds in a skillet until browned.  Don't leave the room.  These suckers go from beautifully toasted to burned to a crisp really quickly.
3.  Put dressing ingredients in a jar and shake or whisk to combine.
4. Toss everything together, adding enough dressing to coat.

Greens

Veg additions: 1grated carrot and about a cup of chopped snow peas

Crunchy goodness.  Unless you burn the Bejesus out of it and then it's smelly 

charcoal nuggets.  Trust me.  

Pre-mix.

Grilled flank steak (marinated in garlic, ginger and soy).

I'm sure everyone's had a version of this, but I've played around with the dressing as some recipes called for up to 1/2 cup of oil.  That's a crap load of oil.  The equal proportions of dressing ingredients works well.  I also add spinach because it's good to eat spinach. For pleasing a crowd this meal is great because you can have the salad made but not dressed.  Then you just have to grill and slice the meat when guests are over.  Easy.  When we make this for a group we usually do a steak or two (flank is a go-to but a good sirloin also works well) and a few chicken breasts.  Slice everything up and serve on a big platter.

Even if we're not serving a group, I make a ton of this salad because the leftovers are so good.  And who doesn't love to open the fridge and have tasty leftovers staring back?

My college friend Suzy wanted to open a bar marketed to Asians called....wait for it....Asian and Tonic.  Still makes me laugh.  The end.