Fast food, home cooked with love

Make these fast, easy and tasty dishes part of your repertoire and you’ll come back to them again and again.

Steak with rice noodle salad. Picture: Guy Bailey

Make these fast, easy and tasty dishes part of your repertoire and you’ll come back to them again and again. Use broccolini in the stir-fry instead of asparagus, if you prefer. I usually serve the steak dish warm.

Steak with rice noodle salad

2 rib eye (scotch fillet) or sirloin steaks

Extra-virgin olive oil

200g dried wide rice noodles

2 medium limes

½ cup coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves

¹⁄³ cup chopped roasted, salted peanuts

Pat steak dry with paper towels, brush lightly with oil and and season with salt and black pepper. Bring to room temperature; meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil. Heat a large frypan or ribbed grill pan over medium-high heat. Add the steak and sear until golden-brown on both sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, add rice noodles to the water and cook according to packet directions; drain. Finely grate the zest of the limes into a large bowl; halve the limes and squeeze the juice into the bowl. Add 3 tablespoons ofextra-virgin olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Drain the noodles. Thinly slice the steak across the grain, add to the dressing in the bowl and toss to coat. Add the noodles, mint and peanuts to the steak and toss to combine; season to taste. Serves 2

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Pork & asparagus stir-fry. Picture Guy Bailey

Pork & asparagus stir-fry

Sunflower or peanut oil

About 500g (2-3 bunches) asparagus, trimmed, sliced on diagonal into 2-3cm pieces

300g pork mince

6 spring onions, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

5cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, finely chopped

2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine) or medium-dry sherry

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

Heat a wok or large frypan over high heat. Add 2 teaspoons of oil and half the asparagus. Stir-fry until crisp-tender and lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Transfer asparagus to a plate. Add a little extra oil to wok and repeat with remaining asparagus; remove to plate. Reduce heat to medium; add 2 teaspoons oil to wok then add pork, spreading it into an even layer. Season; cook for about 2 minutes, or until the meat starts to brown underneath. Break up meat with a fork; add spring onions, garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, or until pork is crisp. Add wine and soy sauce; return asparagus to wok. Cook, turning to combine well, until heated through, about 1 minute. Transfer to a platter or large shallow bowl; drizzle with sesame oil. Season to taste and serve with rice if desired. Serves 4

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