Carne Asada with Corn-Avocado Salad

Serves 4-6

The carne asada marinade is adapted from a recipe at Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco, where they toast and grind whole coriander and cumin seeds ( 1/2 teaspoon each) and marinate the meat for at least 2-3 hours or overnight.

The steak
    * 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
    * 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
    * 1 tablespoon ground ancho chile powder
    * -- Pinch hot red pepper flakes
    * 1/4 cup olive oil
    * 1 1/2 pounds steak, either cut for carne asada, skirt steak or bavette steak

The salad
    * 2 ears corn, husks removed
    * 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
    * 1/4 cup finely minced onion, preferably sweet
    * 1 large, ripe avocado, diced
    * -- Juice from 1/2 lime
    * 2 teaspoons olive oil or to taste
    * -- Kosher salt, to taste
    * -- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
    * To serve
    * 8 small corn tortillas, warm
    * -- Lime wedges
    * -- Salsa

For the steak: Prepare a grill. (You can also use a grill pan.) Combine the coriander, cumin, ancho chile, pepper flakes and olive oil, stir then coat meat with it. Cover and refrigerate while you make the corn salad.

For the salad: Steam the corn until tender, 3-5 minutes. Allow to cool briefly, then hold the corn upright on a secure cutting board and use a large, sharp knife to cut the kernels off the corn in long, straight cuts.

Combine the corn kernels with the tomatoes, onion, avocado, lime juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

If using a grill pan, heat over high heat for a minute or two. Season meat well on both sides with salt and pepper. If using thinner beef cut for carne asada, grill for 2-3 minutes per side. For thicker cuts like bavette, grill for 5-10 minutes per side, until thickest part is medium-rare.

Let meat rest, covered for 10 minutes, then slice thinly against the grain.

Serve the beef with the salad, lime wedges and the tortillas. Alternatively, you can serve the meat as tacos topped with the corn salad and salsa.
