This is one of my favorite quickie weeknight meals. The only tedious part is chopping up all the veggies (which I do in a big batch and keep in separate containers so I have enough to last me for lunches later on in the week), but this takes about as long as it does for the beef to brown, so if you do those two things at the same time, you’re golden.
My favorite veggies to use are the following, but any crunchy, colorful vegetable will do:
- carrots
- cucumbers
- lettuce
- radishes/daikon
- fresh herbs: cilantro, mint, Thai basil
Slice up the cucumbers very thin, and shred the carrots and daikon in the Cuisinart to save some time. Boil some water and pour it over a handful of vermicelli rice noodles in a bowl, let that sit for about 5 minutes, then drain the water and let the noodles cool.
In the meantime, brown 1 pound of ground beef in a skillet, and once the pink is gone but the meat still has some moisture in it, pour in some Le’s Kitchen stir fry sauce, then continue to cook until liquid has evaporated and beef is slightly crispy.
As this is finishing up, make the dressing by whisking the following together in a bowl:
- 4T brown sugar
- 3T rice vinegar
- 4T lime juice
- 2 pressed garlic cloves
- 1 inch minced ginger
- 2 minced chiles (jalapeno, green bird, etc.) or 1T chili paste
To assemble the bowl:
Put a handful of the vermicelli noodles in the bottom of the bowl. Then, arrange all the veggies in little pods around the circumference. Put a big spoonful of the beef right in the middle, sprinkle with herbs, fried shallots, and crushed peanuts, and then pour a healthy dose of the dressing over the top.