Chinese Beef & Broccoli

RECIPE

Ingredients:

1 – 1 1/2 pounds lean steak (thin-sliced NY strip steak is very easy to handle)

32 ounce beef broth

3 pounds fresh broccoli

2 celery stalks

1 sweet red pepper

2 jalapenos (optional — for those who like it hot)

1 bunch green onion (scallions)

1 head garlic

2 tablespoons corn starch

1/2 teaspoon powdered ginger

1 tablespoon sesame seed

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Recommended flavor enhancers to be drizzled on to taste per serving: soy sauce, sesame seed oil, and/or chili oil (for those who like it hot)

DIRECTIONS:

Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil to an 8 quart pan. Prepare the vegetables by cutting 2 celery stalks into thin slices; cleaning seeds and core out of the sweet red pepper and dicing it into small pieces; cleaning the seeds and core out of the optional jalapenos and dicing them into small pieces; and cutting the trunk off the broccoli bunches and cutting the remainder into small branches. Put these ingredients in the 8 quart pan.

Chop the green onion into 1/8″ long pieces and set aside in a bowl. Crush or mince 1/2 or the entire garlic head into a bowl. (The garlic is optional for those who like it.)

Add 1 tablespoon of canola oil to a frying pan. Cut the steak into thin 2-3″ long slices and place in frying pan.

Place both pans on medium heat. Add 1/2 tablespoon ginger; 1 tablespoon sesame seed; 1 tablespoon soy sauce to the steak. Over 10-15 minutes, brown the steak completely and lightly saute the vegetable mix. Stir both the steak and vegetables frequently to keep them from burning.

When the steak is cooked through — no red or pink is showing — put it in the vegetable pan. Add in green onion, garlic, and beef broth. Stir in 2 tablespoons of corn starch to thicken the sauce. If the sauce is too thin, stir in more corn starch, just make sure to mix it in uniformly to avoid clumping.

Bring the pot to a low boil for five minutes to thicken the sauce.

To make the beef broccoli to taste, you can add more soy sauce, more sesame seeds or, if you like it on the sweet side, 1/8 cup sugar. Even better is to have soy sauce, sesame seed oil and chili oil (for those who like it hot) available on your table for people to season their servings to taste.

Serve the Chinese beef and broccoli over brown rice for a complete healthy, nutrient rich, and, of course, tasty meal. Enjoy!