Steak Tacos with Parsley + Radish Salsa & Lime Guacamole

In Israel, my dinner of choice was shwarma from a tiny shop near our apartment. They piled their sandwiches with roasted eggplant, fiery s’chug, french fries, onions, hummus, cabbage, salad and tahini, and although it took serious effort to stay clean while eating, boy, was that a sandwich.
Since then, I’ve been in love with the concept of regional street food. Specifically, sandwiches. All of it appeals to me: the ethnic twists, the handheld format, the combination of flavors. There isn’t a single country that doesn’t have its own version of a street-food sandwich (think: Vietnamese bahn mi, Chicago hot dogs, Bavarian pretzels with mustard and sausage) and in my opinion, there is no higher form of sandwich.
My love of street-food sandwiches is what inspired these tacos. They’re not the ones you ate as a kid: forget the stale, flavorless taco shell, the too-salty meat and the iceberg lettuce that spilled out everywhere. These are real tacos, with soft, flour tortillas as the base, slathered with a bright, creamy lime guacamole, and topped with juicy bites of steak, a peppery radish salsa and sauteed shallots.
Here, the details matter. You want to hit every flavor note: a slightly sour tang from the limes, a sharpness from the radishes, sweetness from the shallots and a drop of saltiness from the steak. As for texture, the radishes should be sliced paper thin, the avocado should be completely smooth, and the steak cooked through, but still succulent.
To make this even easier to put together, I assembled the radish salsa the night before (and dressed it the next day) and I roasted the jalapeno to add some extra smokiness, rounding out all the flavors in this dish. Right before serving, I topped the tacos with thinly sliced radishes, more fresh parsley and sweet shallots and when we finally sat down to dinner, they were gobbled up and gone in minutes, the perfect breezy spring dinner.

Yield: 6 servings

Inspired by and adapted from here