Dinner - Beef & Broccoli

Happy 2016! Can you believe it?! I was just looking at my posts from this past year (which I admit became a bit pitiful there for awhile) and couldn't agree more with my 2015 self that the past 365 days have absolutely flown by. And while I could take this time to reflect on the fun times I had last year and the vows I've made to make this year even better, I thought it would be more fun to talk about my dinner tonight :) Now before I go too much further, I know everyone is on the health craze so this post would probably be more appreciated in another month when reality (and junk food cravings!) come back to haunt us all, but nonetheless this is a great substitute for one of my favorite Chinese carry out dishes...beef and broccoli!

I started out with a couple pounds of beef (you can cheat like me and buy pre-sliced stir-fry meat or just buy a piece of steak/chicken and cut it into thin strips), a small onion, and about three medium heads of broccoli. I diced up the onion and rinsed and trimmed the broccoli into bite sized pieces.

In a large skillet, I heated up sesame oil and vegetable oil over medium-high heat, then added the meat to brown. I added some salt and pepper and then cooked the meat for about 3 minutes and then removed it from the hot oil and into a small bowl.

To the hot pan, I then added the onion with some salt and pepper and cooked it over medium heat until the onions turned translucent and started to pick up the brown bits from the pan.

As the onions cooked, I made my sauce for the stir-fry. To make the sauce, you need rice vinegar, soy sauce, beef broth, water, brown sugar, ginger, and corn starch. (I used fresh ginger which I minced, but powdered ginger works just as well!)

Just before adding the sauce, I added the broccoli to the pan and cooked it for a minute until it turned bright green. I then poured the sauce into the pan until the liquid was simmering. 

I continued to let the liquid simmer for about 5 minutes, then added the beef back to the pan and continued to cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the beef was warmed through.

Once it cooled a bit, the sauce became thicker and made a great topping for some white rice. I added some sesame seeds for garnish and patted myself on the back for another Chinese cheat dish success :) 

 Beef and Broccoli

Ingredients:

1 Tbs sesame oil

1 Tbs vegetable oil

~2 lbs beef or chicken

1 small onion

3 medium heads of broccoli

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

1/2 cup soy sauce (low sodium)

1/2 cup beef broth

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup brown sugar

~1 tsp minced ginger (or 1/2 tsp powdered ginger)

1 Tbs cornstarch

Pinch of salt and pepper

Steps:

1. Cut the meat into thin strips, about 1/2 inch thick. Finely dice the onion, and cut the broccoli head into bite sized pieces.

2. Heat sesame oil and vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meat to the hot oil and add a pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Brown the meat for 3-5 minutes until cooked through. Remove the meat from the oil and set aside in a small bowl.

4. Add the onions to the hot oil and reduce the heat to medium. Add another pinch of salt and pepper. Continue cooking until the onions are slightly translucent, about 5 minutes.

5. Add the broccoli to the onions and cook until the broccoli has turned bright green, about 2 minutes. 

6. To make the sauce, combine the rice vinegar, soy sauce, beef broth, water, brown sugar, ginger, and corn starch. 

7. Add the sauce to the pan with the onions and broccoli and simmer on low until the sauce begins to thicken, about 5-7 minutes.

8. Add the meat back to the simmering liquid and cook an additional 2-3 minutes to warm the meat through.

9. Serve with white rice and garnished with sesame seeds.