Thai beef salad

Back when I used to grill (charcoal, then gas, then charcoal again) in the heat of a 6 pm afternoon in Denver in July or August, this was one of our favorite things to make. We used flank steak. This time I used a chuck eye steak. The popular wisdom is that anything with the word chuck in it is like saddle leather unless cooked for the rest of the summer. Not so with this cut. It was my first time using it and it turned out to be very pleasing. A stove top grill was my tool of choice - I haven't owned a grown-up grill for at least half a dozen years.

An extremely easy salad to put together, it may require you to find a couple special ingredients (unless you are the perfect cook and have your pantry stocked with everything). As is my wont, the recipe will feed just 2.

Thai beef salad
12 - 16 oz chuck eye steak, trimmed of extraneous fat
a couple of big handfuls of arugula or a mix of young greens you can get in a bag
some grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
juice of one lime
1 Tbs fish sauce, or more to taste
1/2 Tbs sugar (or Splenda, which was my choice)
1 Thai green chili, seeded and minced
black pepper
add salt only after tasting - fish sauce is very salty

Toss the arugula or greens with 3/4 of the dressing and spread out on a dinner plate. Scatter some tomatoes around.

Sear the steak in a bit of olive oil with a pinch of salt and pepper for just 3 minutes per side. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes and then slice and thinly as you can against the grain. Place the beef slices on top of the arugula and drizzle the rest of the dressing over it.