One of my favorite vegetable dishes that my mother whipped up in no time is sautéed beef over a bed of pickled onions, tomatoes and watercress.  She combines the pan juice with the pickling juice to create a refreshing vinaigrette that beckons to be poured over a steaming bowl of rice.  Over the weekend, I asked my mother to help me recreate this quick and easy dish for our readers.  With Fall in full swing, this is a refreshing dish to incorporate vegetables in your next meal.

This recipe is rated easy and takes approximately 15-20 minutes to prepare.

Ingredients

1 lb of beef such as sirloin that would be good for sautéing

1 bushel of watercress

2 ½ teaspoons of soy sauce

Sugar

Salt

Pepper

½ teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder 

¼ cup of vinegar

1 large tomato

½ of a yellow onion thinly sliced

¼ of a yellow onion diced

1/4 of a red onion diced

2 cloves of garlic sliced

1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon of olive oil 

1 stalk of scallion for garnish

1 handful of cilantro for garnish

Directions

Thinly slice ½ of a yellow onion and rough chop ¼ of the remainder of the onion and set aside.

In a bowl, combine the thinly sliced onions, ¼ cup of vinegar, ½ teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of water and 1 teaspoon of sugar.  Mix well and set aside.

Thinly slice the beef against the grain.

Season the beef with ½ teaspoon of pepper, ½ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of sugar, ½ teaspoon of soy sauce, ½ teaspoon of chicken bouillon powder and the chopped red and yellow onion.  (Reserve  ½ tablespoon of diced onions for sautéing in the next step.)

Heat the pan on high and coat it with ¼ cup of olive oil or until the pan is coated.  Brown ½ tablespoon of diced onions and 2 cloves of sliced garlic.

Add the beef once the garlic and onions are browned and quickly sauté on medium high heat for approximately 5 minutes or until the beef is cooked to your preference.  

Add 1 tablespoon of water and 1 teaspoon of soy sauce.  Turn off the heat.

Assemble

Thinly slice the tomatoes in ⅛ inch rounds and cut the round slices in half.

On a large plate, place the watercress at the bottom and top with tomatoes.  Add the pickled onions (without the juice).  Add the sautéed beef on top but reserve the liquid from the pan for the sauce.

Sauce

Add the pan juice to the vinegar that is left over from the pickled onions and 1/2 teaspoon of lime juice.  Whisk together.

Add 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and 1 teaspoon of olive oil.  Mix well.

Pour the sauce over the beef and watercress salad to serve.

Garnish the salad with cilantro and thinly sliced scallions.

For more recipes, visit our EAT page or Recipe Index.

Authors:  Suong Tran and Chau Hoang