Vegetable & Beef Stir Fry

  During the weekend, I made carrot cake muffins with a cream cheese filling for church. The recipe can be found here. They were good, but my favorite carrot cake recipe has to be these whoopie pies.

Orange bell pepper & Bok Choy strips.

  I've been hungry for a stir fry recently and I decided that I would experiment to make another recipe since we don't have any take-out near us. I've already made a Baby Bok Choy & Pork Stir Fry and a simple Beef Stir Fry so I wanted something a little different.I like the idea of making Chinese meals (& other meals) at home since you can keep track of the amount of oil, salt, and the quality of products that are going into your dinner. Most places that serve Chinese food that I've been to usually give you a big plate of thick, salty sauce and very little of the actual meat & veggies.


  This recipe was also a way to use up some veggies that we got from bountiful baskets. You can change the type of vegetables to what you have on hand and what you and your family prefers.You could also use pork, chicken, or tofu if you want it to be vegetarian. You could even leave out the meat and have a delicious meal with tons of veggies.

Vegetable & Beef Stir Fry

                                               Created by Rayna of Curious Country Cook

serves: 4

2 oz (1/3-1/2 of 1 whole carrot),peeled & sliced thin
3/4 small bell pepper (1.5 oz),seeded & sliced thin
4 oz Bok Choy, cleaned, sliced thin, and cut in 1/2
3 oz green beans, trimmed & cut into 1/3's
3/4-1 lb flank steak
2 garlic cloves
1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger
11/2 tbsp vegetable oil
Slurry:
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
Sauce:
3 tbsp orange juice
3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
big pinch of red pepper flakes
pinch of black pepper
green onions,chopped for garnish


1. Prep the steak by placing it on your cutting board & cutting against the grain of the meat with a sharp knife into thin strips.- If you steak is wide and the slices are too long for your preference, you can cut the strips in 1/2 along the grain.
2. Use a micro plane (or mince) the garlic and ginger, set aside. Mix together the cornstarch and water until blended, set aside. In a small bowl, mix the orange juice, soy sauce, sugar, Worcestershire sauce,pepper, and red pepper flakes; set aside.
3. In a large skillet with sides or a wok, heat 1 tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Once hot, add in some of the meat in a single layer to brown before flipping over to cook the other side. Remove from the pan and cook the rest of the meat, remove it, and add in 1/2 tbsp of oil into the pan. Add in the garlic and ginger, cook until light brown (Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn!) before adding in the vegetables and 1/2 of the soy sauce mixture. Cover and steam for about 7 minutes.
4. Add the meat back into the pan, toss,add in the rest of the sauce mix, and the cornstarch slurry. Cook uncovered until the sauce is thick and the vegetables are tender; add the green onions in the last minute before serving over rice or noodles.