Saturday, January 11, 2014

Spicy Mongolian beef over brown rice



As I've said on this blog before, I love Chinese food. The only drawback is that it's the most complicated and most expensive ethnic food to make at home. Anyone who's been looking at a 95% full bottle of Sweet Chili Sauce in the refrigerator for the last year knows what I mean. (FYI: Italian food is the cheapest and easiest to make yourself. For this reason alone, I tend to skip Italian restaurants these days.) But this Mongolian beef dish was an exception--it was fast and easy. The meat dish itself has only 240 calories per half cup--but 25 grams of protein. I added brown rice and Asian stir-fry vegetables as healthy sides.

Ingredients:
3/4 to 1 pound of steak, cut into strips (most grocery stores sell pre-cut steak for stir-fry)
1 tablespoon of sesame seeds (optional)
1/3 cup Hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
2 teaspoons sesame oil
crushed red pepper (to taste; I would start with 1/2 teaspoon)
sliced green onions
1 can of sliced water chestnuts (optional)

Directions:
1. In a bowl, combine hoisin sauce, water, garlic, crushed red pepper, sesame oil, and water chestnuts. Set aside.
2. In another bowl, coat steak with sesame seeds.
3. Coat a skillet with cooking spray and cook steak over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Watch it closely, because it's easy to overcook the meat.
4. Pour sauce over the steak and cook another 2 minutes, until the sauce is slightly reduced. Toward the end, add the green onion. Serve over brown rice!

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