Beef and Broccoli

Every Thursday, the large brick pathway adjacent to the building I work in fills with various vendors and food trucks, where everything from roasted peanuts to paninis are sold. I walked by all of this at exactly the wrong time today - right before I had planned on eating my lunch. The stand that caught my eye was one that was selling delicious smelling Chinese food. I forced myself to keep walking - I knew I'd regret spending close to $10 on lunch when I had a perfectly good Lean Cuisine microwave meal waiting for me in the freezer. And as soon as I took a bite of my reheated microwave lunch, I regretted passing up that Chinese food.

I decided to make my version of Chinese-style Beef and Broccoli. This dish comes together pretty quickly, so it's perfect for that work night where the last thing you want to do is spend hours in the kitchen putting together a meal.

The original recipe can be found here.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb stir fry beef strips, cut into bite size pieces
• 3 Tbs cornstarch, divided
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbs water, divided
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• olive oil
• 1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 4 cups broccoli
• 1 small onion, cut into wedges
• cooked rice (if desired)

How to:

• Combine 2 Tbs cornstarch, 2 Tbs water, and garlic powder in a small bowl. Mix until smooth.
• Add beef to this mixture and toss (I transferred the cornstarch mixture and beef to a large Ziploc bag and mixed this way).
• In a separate bowl, combine remaining water and cornstarch, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, and ginger, and mix until smooth. Set aside.
• Heat some oil in a large skillet or pan over medium-high heat and cook beef until desired done-ness.
• Transfer beef to another container and keep warm.
• In remaining oil, stir-fry broccoli and onion for about 4-5 minutes.
• Add beef to broccoli and onion, and pour soy sauce mixture into pan.
• Cook for an additional 2-4 minutes until warmed throughout.
• Serve Beef and Broccoli over warm rice.

Take care not to overcook your beef. If you overcook it, you'll end up with chewy meat! I think the sauce to beef/broccoli ratio is just right. The crispness of the stir-fried broccoli and onion, coupled with the sweet and tangy soy sauce mixture results in a winning combination. And when served over rice - the overall texture of the dish is perfect.

Let me know what you think!