Chinese Please!

So you love Chinese for dinner, and it's fast to arrive at your door when you don't have a dinner game plan, but not so easy on the wallet these days.  Go without again?  Not this time, my culinary friends!

The kids ask for Chinese, and it can be healthy...so I decided to get out of my comfort zone and go for my own version of BEEF W/ VEGETABLES.  Color on the plate defines healthy they say, so I put in my basket (I've recently GONE GREEN at the grocery - and just say no to the plastic - feels good - try it!), red pepper, yellow pepper, onion, broccoli, and big carrots (not the tiny ones b/c the big ones are much sweeter - did you know?).  Then in the meat section, thin pre sliced sirloin beef cutlets.  If you're lucky enough to live close to an Asian market (we have Super H-Mart in our neighborhood - Alpharetta, Georgia) they have many fresh meat cut options and very inexpensive.  Other markets do as well.  You can always slice it yourself, with a good sharp knife.

Start with putting your rice on - get that cooking.  My grandma used to say, don't open the lid when that rice is cooking on med low- leave it be!  Works for me...

I don't even have a Wok!  ...don't have much storage space to put that big thing, but if you do, all the better!  So I pull out my largest fry pan, throw a few TBSP. of sesame oil in there, and brown the meat on both sides.  Like Emeril says, "I don't know where your meat comes from but where mine comes from it don't come seasoned" so I remember to liberally salt and pepper both sides.  Now some juicy juice is in the bottom of the pan.  Take out the meat, leave the juice.

Slice all the veges (picture what it looks like when you order it - no fretting now!)  Depends how many you're feeding, but I used a lot, so we'd have left overs.  If you're going to cook, might as well do it for 2-3 meals at once.  Throw those veges in there - cook them on Med/High heat, just a few minutes to barely soften them, and soak those juices in...then take off the heat.  Now for the fun part - the sauce.

You'll need:  soy sauce, rice vinegar, olive oil, fresh or ground ginger, 1 fresh garlic clove (minced), and chicken broth.  You can put a few T. dry white wine in if you'd like.  If you want your sauce to thicken a bit, then put in a T. of cornstarch, but I didn't bother.  (for amts. I can email you recipe, if you would like, or try to Google Beef & Vegetable Chinese Recipe).

Pour that sauce over your veges, add the meat back in, stir and let simmer for 5 minutes to heat through.  Serve on rice. 

The Asian markets sell Egg Rolls, Dumplings and Edemame, as ideal sides.  For less than $25 you've made a healthy Chinese dinner with probaby plentiful left overs, for lunch or a quick week day dinner option.

No MSG here Sistah!  Enjoy!

Carey Sperry

Personal Assistant

Alpharetta, Georgia