Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps

The Jan/Feb issue of Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine is always a "light" issue. This year there are several recipes that I'm excited to try. First on the list? Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps.

The recipe calls for flank steak, but I used another cut that was on sale at Whole Foods...maybe it was top-round or sirloin (both are lean cuts as is flank). As long as the piece of beef is relatively thin, anything will work.

I bought a mango against my better judgement (it's not mango season!) and it was horrible so I tossed it. I wanted to use something else sweet in its place, so I sliced up a red bell pepper, tossed it in olive oil, salt, and pepper and cooked it on my grill pan.

If you can't find cellophane or bean thread noodles, substitute rice noodles or angel hair pasta.

These past few days, I've been using the leftovers to make a salad...I had to make more of the cilantro-lime dressing. Tear up the lettuce and top with the beef, mango (in my case red bell pepper), scallions, cilantro and dressing...I actually added the rice noodles to the salad as well. I think chopped peanuts would be a nice addition to the salad.

Asian Beef Lettuce Wraps
adapted from Everyday Food magazine

Makes 6 servings

1 ½ pounds flank steak (or another lean, thin cut of beef)
salt and pepper
6 ounces cellophane or bean-thread noodles (or rice noodles, angel hair pasta)
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided (use half sesame oil if you have it!)
2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
3 scallions (green onions), sliced
¼ cup lime juice
½ cup cilantro, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
12 leaves Boston/butter lettuce
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and cut into strips

Preheat broiler, with rack 4 inches from heat. Place steak on a large rimmed baking sheet; pat dry and season both sides with salt and pepper. Broil until medium-rare, 10 t0 12 minutes, turning halfway through. Remove from oven, cover with foil, and let rest 10 minutes. Thinly slice against the grain.

While the steak is cooking, cook noodles according to package directions; drain, and return to pot. Add 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, sliced scallions, and half of cilantro; season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.

In a small bowl (or jar), combine lime juice, cilantro, garlic, and remaining tablespoon of oil and soy sauce; season with salt and pepper.

Fill lettuce leaves with beef (about 2 ounces per leaf) and mango; drizzle with sauce. Serve with noodles.

Per serving - 350 calories, 13 g fat (4 g saturated), 31 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 26 g protein (exchanges: 4 protein, 2 fat, 1 ½ starch, ½ vegetable)

Notes - I added freshly grated ginger to the sauce; although I didn't, the original recipe says to add green onions to the wraps with the beef and mango; if your rice noodles look dry after you add the oil and soy sauce, add more soy