Tonight's Dinner: Cold steak & noodle salad recipe

Cold noodle salads are often found in Asian themed restaurants as delicious lunch and dinner options. They're often a nice alternative to the more standard lettuce salad and are hearty enough to be quite filling. However, I have never had a cold noodle salad because I prefer my noodles hot either by themselves, in soups or stir-fry.

But the other night I had some leftover steak and I wanted to do something besides make my usual steak sandwich. So, I thought about all those times I'd seen cold noodle salad on the menu and decided it was time to put my aversions aside and try it. I'm so glad I did. Even though the noodles were ice cold, the dressing with which I tossed them made them super flavorful and gave me a great base on which to put my leftover flank steak. I don't know why I waited so long to try the cold noodle salad, but now that I see how easy and delicious it is, I'm going to make it a lot more often.

Cold steak & noodle salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 (1 pound) tri-tip steak, grilled, cut into 1-inch cubes and chilled for at least an hour
• 8 ounces udon noodles
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 2 cups baby bok choy, chopped
• 1/2 cup shallot, chopped

Directions:

1. Cook the noodles according to package directions; drain, shock with cold water and chill.
2. While the noodles chill, whisk together the cilantro, vinegar, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, lime juice, ginger, scallions and garlic in a medium bowl.
3. Transfer the cold noodles to a large serving bowl. Add the steak, bok choy and shallots to the bowl of noodles. Pour in the dressing and toss to coat. Serve immediately.

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