Grilled Beef Wrap w/ Papaya & Shrimp Salad

Lunch on Hawthorne Street this past weekend inspired me to create my own style of Thai food.  Not something I'm familiar with, I was forced to go to the web to see what I needed and how I can make it Paleo.  There can be some unusual ingredients in Asian food, Thai being no exception, my main concern was availability in tiny Hood River.  After consulting five different recipes, I created my own and headed to the grocer.

TIP:  Don't go shopping for herbs in Hood River on Mondays.  They don't get their shipments until Tuesday.  If you're really smart, unlike me, you will have your own herb garden.

Ingredients:

2 Green Papaya, julienned if you have one, sliced into spaghetti strips if you don't
BIG TIP:  I had no bloody clue what a green papaya was.  Searching searching searching... the grover had no idea either; he wasn't of Thai decent, BTW.  A GREEN PAPAYA is a regular papaya that hasn't ripened yet... DUHHHHH.  I hope this tip will save you the two trips to the grocery store that it cost me.  And I still couldn't get completely green papayas.
12 Large Shrimp, tails off and sliced in half length-wise (I preferred already boils & peeled)
1 medium carrot shredded
4 Tbs. Basil finely chopped
4 Tbs. Cilantro finely chopped
1 tsp. Mint finely chopped, my missing ingredient ;(
1/3 cup crushed almonds (a sub for peanut, which are not Paleo)
2 Jalepeno's, amount depends on your personal taste, see instructions
Juice of 6 Limes
4 Tbs. Honey, melted for 10 seconds
4 Tbs. Fish Sauce, plus additional for marinade
NOTE: With limited access to a good Asian Market, I had to buy fish sauce that had sugar in it.  This is the ONLY non-Paleo ingredient in this dish, but at 4 Tbs. just get over it.
1.5lbs flank steak
4-5 Green Onions, cut in half
8-10 toothpicks

Prep First
In a large bowl put... 1/2 jalepeno sliced with seeds, juice of 2 limes, 2 Tbs fish sauce, 2 Tbs. honey, and 2 Tbs. each of basil and cilantro.  Mix well with a whisk.  Make sure you heat the honey a bit so it mixes together; otherwise you'll be sticky.  ADD the flank steak, cover with plastic and stick it in the fridge.  You can also do this in a large plastic bag instead of a bowl if you please.

Make your salad
Once you've got your papaya & carrot prepared, it's time for dressing.  Take out a large bowl, preferably the one you want to serve with.  In the bowl add the rest of your lime and fish sauce, whisk well.  Add the honey and whisk again.  Toss in your herbs.  Now is decision time; how spicy do you like it?  I only used 1/2 of a jalepeno minced on a cheese grater, but you may want more.  Remember!  the longer it marinates the spicier it will be.

Now that you've achieved a preferred level of hotness, mix in the papaya, carrot and shrimp.  Marry everything together, cover with plastic and stick it in the fridge.

Pull out your BEEF!.. green onion and toothpicks.  Turn on your grill!  Let it heat up on a medium to high heat.  The high heat will give you a nice sear, especially if you like your meat properly done with pink in the middle.

Now, the flank is a long thin cut.  Start on one end, take a piece of green onion and make a beef roll with the onion in the middle.  Once you've overlapped the beef, stick it with a toothpick and cut the end.  Do this until you run out of beef; about 8-10 pieces.  Turn your burner down to medium/low, grill turning each piece 3-5 minutes on two sides.

PRESENT!  On a plate, pile your salad sprinkled with crushed almonds and daintily place you choice pieces of beef next to the salad.

Until next time!

xoxox

S