Asian Beef Strips & Zingy Black Rice Salad

Boil a kettle

Add the black rice to a pot of plenty of boiled water and cook over a high heat for 30 min or until it's tender (it will still have a slight bite to it when cooked)

Once cooked, drain and set aside

Meanwhile, slice the cucumber into discs

Slice each individual cucumber disc into matchsticks 

Cut the red chilli[es] in half lengthways, deseed (scrape the seeds out with a teaspoon) and chop finely

Peel and finely chop (or grate) the garlic 

Combine the soy sauce and the juice of the lime[s] with 1 tbsp [2 tbsp] vegetable oil

Add the chopped garlic and half the chopped chilli (Can't handle the heat? Go easy!) – this is your chilli-lime dressing 

Pick the mint leaves from their stems, discard the stems 

Pick the coriander leaves from their stems

Set the mint and coriander leaves aside for garnish

Chop the coriander stems finely, and add them to the chilli-lime dressing

Once the rice is done, heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a drizzle of vegetable oil over the highest heat

Once your pan is very hot, add the beef strips with the remaining chopped chilli (Can't handle the heat? Go easy!) and a pinch of salt and cook for 1 min exactly, making sure you don’t overcook them

Once done, transfer them to a plate

Season the beef strips with a generous grind of black pepper and leave to rest for 1-2 min

Wash the baby spinach and pat it dry