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Lime Infused Beef Stir Fry with Avocado Salad

Lime Infused Beef Stir Fry with Avocado Salad

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You are going to love this recipe for a Lime Infused Beef Stir Fry Avocado Salad which is inspired by a Cuban Dish, Vaca Frita. Instead of making the beef crispy in the oven, we stir fried it then seasoned it with fresh lime juice.  It is served with a simple Avocado Salad with thin slices of red onion. A light and refreshing dinner, perfect for a hot summer night or a cold San Francisco one.

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I was inspired to make this dish after reading an article in Food and Wine magazine about Cuban Food.  I have always been intrigued by Cuban food, even though, I have never been there.  Lenny had a bad experiences with it now thinks Cuban food is only grilled cheese.  When I told him about this woman, Lourdes Castro, that I read about and that I was going to try out a recipe, he just said, “we’ll see”.

I love to hear a story about a chef who is self-taught, as I find something romantic about it.  Lourdes Castro did not learn from her mother, in fact, she said her mother was a bad cook.  She did not become interested in food until she went to college in NY and then she became a self-taught home chef.  She hosts cooking classes about Cuban Food and has written cookbooks.  She shared a recipe for Vaca Frita:  Unfortunately, when I read the recipe (or thought I read the recipe), I neglected to see that I  needed a green pepper and that I needed to boil the meat, let it marinate for an hour and a half and then cook it until crispy.  There was no way this was going to happen on a work out night so I improvised and it worked.  

I sliced the meat thinly and then I sauteed it with garlic and onions and seasoned it with lots of fresh lime juice and salt and pepper.  Then I served it alongside was a simple avocado and red onion salad along with some warmed tortillas.  The lime juice in the meat was a great compliment to the creamy avocado and red onions.  This recipe is so flavorful, very easy to make and was a big hit!  The only thing missing was a mojito!

Recipe: Lime Infused Beef Stir Fry Avocado Salad

Ingredients:

1 lb beef flank,  thinly sliced

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup fresh lime  juice

3 tablespoons olive oil

kosher salt, to taste

fresh cracked pepper to taste

2 avocados, peeled and  thinly sliced

1/2 of a small red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

sea salt, to taste

fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

How To:

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan.  Saute the onions until caramelized, about 15 – 20 minutes.  Add the garlic, stir and cook for another 5 minutes.

Raise the heat to a high medium, add the beef, and quickly stir-fry until cooked to your liking.  Add the lime juice.  Stir and cook for about 3 – 5 minutes, until fragrant and heated through.   Season with salt and pepper.

Arrange the avocado and onion slices on a plate, then top with the beef mixtures.  Drizzle with the olive oil and vinegar.

Sprinkle with the sea salt and pepper.

Serve.

Eat.

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Ryan

Thursday 19th of July 2012

Vaca Frita is one of my favorite recipes and this variation of it...plus the salad makes this very enticing. This is the perfect dish for summer. Very refreshing!

gastroanthropologist

Friday 5th of June 2009

I don't have beef, but I do have some fish that I was planning on grilling for dinner tonight, as well as all the ingredients for your simple avocado salad so I'll be making that to go alongside. That crispy beef does look and sound really good though...

Carrie

Thursday 4th of June 2009

Looks like such a fabulous summer meal!

Jen

Wednesday 3rd of June 2009

I like how thinly sliced the meat is---makes for easy eating and tortilla packing. Scrumptious photos!

Manggy

Wednesday 3rd of June 2009

Oh no! Who was in charge of the mojitos?! Ha ha ha :) I've never eaten Cuban food before either (hmm, haveta remedy that!), but grilled cheese wouldn't have been my first guess! Now whenever someone says Cuban food I'll always have this delicious stir fry in my mind's eye :)