Spicy Beef Stir-fry

Okay, so you're hungry, and you've got some veggies, but you're tired and you want to make a dinner that doesn't take a whole lot of work or time, AND you like Chinese food?  How about some Stir-fry with stuff in your refrigerator?  I had some round steak on hand and in 20 minutes start to finish, we had a delicious healthy dinner.

Caitlin and I wanted to go for a bike ride, so before we left, I put 1 cup of brown rice into the rice cooker to cook (our rice cooker will automatically turn to warm when it's done cooking to keep the rice warm until you need it) and set the Beef in some warm water to thaw.  After about 45 minutes we came back and the rice is done and the Beef is thawed and we're hungry.  So after a quick rinse in the shower for me, it's time to get going on dinner!

Recipe:
1lb Round/Flank/London Broil Beef Steak
1/2 Orange Pepper
1/2 medium sized Red Pepper
1 Bunch Green Onions
Ginger Root roughly equal the size of both of your thumbs
1/2 C Peanut Oil
Teriyaki Sauce
Sesame Seeds

Slice the steak into 1 1/2 inch long strips and then slice those pieces into 1 1/2 inch by 1/4 inch pieces (this is important, you want to get as much of your stir fry pieces to be the same size as possible, it helps with cooking) and place the pieces in a bowl and top with just enough Sauce to coat all the meat pieces.  If the sauce you have is runny, add in some cornmeal or flour little by little while stirring until the sauce thickens up and really coats the beef slices.

Next, chop the entire bunch of green onions into 1/4 inch pieces and place in a bowl.  Then slice the ginger into 1/8 inch slices and keep the center pieces (the ones that don't have skin on one side, only around the edges).  Trim off the skin around the edges of these pieces and then stack them back up and cut long ways into 1/8 inch slices.  Then turn 90 degrees and slice into 1/8 inch slices again (Carefully!).  This should end up being a pile of 1/8 inch ginger cubes.  Add these to the green onion bowl.

Put your Wok on the stove-top on medium high to heat up. Take your Onion and Pepper and cut them into roughly 1/2" pieces.  Add a little peanut oil to the wok and let that heat up for 30 seconds and then throw in the onion and pepper to stir fry.  Let them cook for 2-4 minutes until they start to get soft, stirring constantly (stirring in the stir-fry sense means using a spatula and flipping/stirring in a rotation around the wok so that each piece is in contact with the cooking surface equally and moving items from the center of the wok to the outside, it's sort of a constant flip of the wrist). Once the veggies are cooked and softened, remove them from the wok and place in a bowl. 

Now add in another 1/2 C of peanut oil and let it heat up for 30 seconds and then dump in the Green Onions and Ginger.  Stir fry them for about a minute and then add in the Beef and sauce.  Stir fry the beef for about 2-4 minutes until all the pieces appear to be browned on the outside and add back in the red onions and pepper.  Continue to stir-fry together for another minute and then remove the Wok from the stove and serve over a bed of the brown rice.  Mmmm, delicious! 

Stir-frying is great, if you can learn to do it quickly and effectively you can buy cheaper cuts of beef and have them end up tender and delicious and you can mix and match in an endless amount of combinations: 

• Don't like rice, try rice or lo-mein noodles.  
• Don't like beef, try chicken or shrimp!  
• Don't like Teriyaki, well, use whatever sauce you do like, just make sure you thicken it up so it coats the meat/veggies (otherwise it can settle in the middle of the wok and boil/splash in your face).  
• Don't like Chinese food but you like Thai food?  Well, swap out the green onion and ginger for Cilantro and/or Thai Basil and Chile pepper.  

Whatever you can think up, you can do, and more importantly, whatever you have in your fridge/freezer, you can probably find a stir-fry combo that will work and taste delicious!