Edamame Salad with Crisp Steak Bits

This dish was really good, and if it looks a little summery to you, you're right to think so because it came from the June 2011 issue of Cooking Light.

I. Love. Edamame. So when I saw a picture of this salad, I bookmarked it and here we are. The bite-sized pieces of "crisp" steak were just so enticing, and the slices of avocado topped it off. Well, what I thought was avocado topped it off.

I'm at the grocery store buying ingredients for maybe three or so recipes that I'm going to make that week (this was a little while ago; I'm a bit behind on my blogging, evidently). As I'm shopping, I'm wondering how I could have forgotten to put avocado on my list (as I picture this edamame salad in my mind). In turn, I grab four ripe ones; you can never have too many. I mean, I would eat avocado sliced plain if needed.

Well, it turns out that the moon-shaped slivers of avocado I was envisioning were not actually avocado, but cucumber. So, in probably more words than needed, I have explained my reasons for including both avocado and cucumber in this dish. I think it works.

Cook edamame as usual; drain, rinse, and drain. Combine tamari soy sauce, minced fresh ginger, mayonnaise, wholegrain Dijon mustard, rice wine vinegar, and dark sesame oil in a large bowl. Add edamame, halved grape tomatoes, chopped and seeded English cucumber, and chopped green onions. Toss to coat. Heat olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Combine flank steak (cut into small chunks), salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Add steak to pan, cooking 5 minutes or until well browned and crisp.

Spoon edamame mixture onto plates and top with steak. Enjoy.