Late Saturday afternoon I pulled a mysterious looking zip-lock bag from the freezer in hopes of finding something to cook for dinner without having to go to the supermarket. I couldn’t make out what was in the bag until it had defrosted for a few minutes in a bowl of water: half of a flank steak, cut down the middle to look like a pork tenderloin.
It quickly became the impromptu stir-fry star of whatever I could find in the fridge. Broccoli? Yes. Red bell pepper? Ditto. Onion? Of course. Garlic? Always.
I looked up several beef stir-fry recipes and settled on the one for which I had the most ingredients. This is adapted from America’s Test Kitchen’s Light and Healthy 2010 Cookbook.
If you don’t have dry sherry or hoisin sauce (although I highly recommend keeping a constant supply of this stuff in your pantry. There’s even an article about it here), just go with what you’ve got. It’ll still be delicious. How can you go wrong quickly sauteing fresh veggies and meat? Again, this is not rocket science, trust me.
Stir Fry Sauce:
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth 1/4 cup dry sherry 3 T. hoisin sauce 1 T. low-sodium soy sauce 2 t. cornstarch 1 t. toasted sesame oil
Stir-Fry
12 oz. flank steak, halved lengthwise and sliced into 1/4″ thick slices 2 t. low-sodium soy sauce 2 t. dry sherry 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 T. grated fresh ginger 3 t. canola or peanut oil 1 red bell pepper, cut into 3/4″ pieces 1 bunch broccoli, florets cut into 1″ pieces 1/2 cup water
Combine sauce ingredients and set aside.
Toss beef with soy sauce and dry sherry. and let marinate for a few minutes.
Heat 1 t. oil in a wok or nonstick skillet over high heat. Add beef and stir fry until lightly browned, about 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a clean bowl.
Add another 1 t. oil to skillet and add the bell pepper. Cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer to the same bowl with beef.
Add broccoli and water to skillet, cover and steam 1 to 2 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid evaporates and broccoli is crisp-tender, about 2 to 4 minutes longer.
Make a well in the center of the skillet and stir the garlic and ginger into the broccoli. Return the beef/bell pepper mixture to the skillet. Whisk the sauce and add it, stirring constantly until thickened, about 1 minute. Serve with brown rice.
Serves: 4 (Perfect dinner-for-two one night and leftovers for the next)