Fried Rice with Beef

Fried Rice—the ancient one pot wonder. While grocery shopping I found some cheap pre-cut lean beef meant for “oriental” dishes. I wasn’t sure what to do with it until I came up with this! Here is a super easy recipe for fried rice that you can scale to any number of diners. This serves about four, but Kent and I follow it as is because it makes for sensational leftovers. Don’t be scared away by the number of ingredients—you likely have most of these in your fridge already. Time for some chow!

Fried Rice with Beef

Ingredients:

1 lb lean stir-fry beef, cut into thin strips

1 small red onion, diced

2/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 Tbsp fresh grated ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup beef broth

1 tsp corn starch

1 head of broccoli, chopped

2 small sweet peppers, diced

1 egg

1 ½ cups uncooked brown basmati rice

Fresh cilantro for garnish

2 Tbsp seasame oil

Chili oil or red pepper flakes, optional

Preparation:

In a small mixing bowl, create a marinade using 1/3 cup soy sauce, 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger and 1 clove of garlic. Add the beef and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

While the beef is marinating, combine 3 cups water and the brown rice with a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 50-60 minutes. Test for doneness and fluff with a fork. When the rice is completely cooked, remove the cover, and take off the heat to stop the cooking process.

*You will notice I specified brown basmati rice.  I think this rice works great and is worth the extra $. It is a firmer and nuttier variety and holds up well to the dark flavors of the beef and soy sauce. Plus is it high in fiber! Look for it in the bulk grocery section where you can buy exactly as much as you need.

In a wok or deep-sided frying pan, heat  1 Tbsp of sesame oil.  Spoon the beef into the hot pan allowing most of the marinade to stay in the bowl and discard. Over high heat, cook the beef to desired doneness and remove from the pan.

Add a second tablespoon of oil to the wok and sauté the onions and broccoli in any remaining juices. When the broccoli has browned, add the peppers, and rest of the ginger and garlic.  Working over medium-high heat, saute 2 -3 minutes until the peppers are cooked. Pour in the beef broth.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/3 cup soy sauce with the 1 tsp of corn starch to make a slurry. Pour into the hot wok with the veggies. Cook for 2 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken.  If spice is desired add red pepper flakes now, or better yet chili oil if you have it. Mmm.

Move to veggies over to find the bottom of the pan and crack in the egg. Scramble the egg and cook for 1 minute and then mix into the veggies. Add the cooked rice and stir until well combined. Then remove from the heat.Serve immediately garnished with a bit of cilantro and more chili oil if you like it REALLY spicy. Time to eat!

Once you have the rice cooked and your veggies prepped, it only takes about 5 minutes to make this dish. This really comes together fast! If you have a rice cooker, this is a great time to dig it out so you have one less thing to think about. The recipe works great with any veggies, so feel free to substitute anything you have in your crisper bin!

I hope have fun making this dish! Enjoy!

-Nikki

Italian Chicken and Vegetable Soup

This has become one of my favorite soups to make simply because the leftovers are so good! This is also a great soup to clean out any remnant vegetables you have left in the crisper bin. (*wink!) I would definitely recommend using a sweet yellow pepper in the recipe. That little hint of sweetness works great with the spicy sausage and even though they are pricey per pound, they end up only being about $2 a piece.  

A note about noodles: My friend and neighbor Bri turned me on to this soup idea: Cook your noodles separately and ladle the soup on top of them in the bowl rather than pouring them into the soup. This is a great trick!  It saves the soup from that added starchiness and keeps the noodles from getting mushy in your leftovers. Thanks Bri!

Italian Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

3 fresh spicy Italian chicken sausages, casings removed

1 medium sweet onion

4 stalks of celery

2 carrots, peeled

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 medium fresh and seeded, or 14 oz. can of drained tomatoes

1 medium zucchini

1 yellow sweet pepper

1 green sweet pepper

6 cups chicken broth

2 cups water

1 tsp dried basil

½ tsp dried thyme

¼ tsp dried rosemary

¼ tsp marjoram

Salt and pepper

14oz can cannellini or other white bean, drained

3 cups cooked small tube pasta, like diatalini

Preparation:

Dice up your onion, celery and carrots and sauté with some olive oil in your big soup pot over medium-high heat until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken sausage, and break it up into pieces as you cook it through. Then add the minced garlic and chopped tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes mush a bit, about 3 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth and water and bring to a boil over high heat.

While you wait, dice up the remaining vegetables. Carefully add the veggies and the dried herbs to the boiling soup. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Test a carrot to see that it is not too crunchy. Pour in the drained and rinsed cannellini beans and allow to cook only 2 more minutes. Remove from the heat.

Ladle the soup into a bowl over a half a cup of the cooked noodles.  

Store your noodles and the soup separately and toss the noodles in a bit of olive oil if they are sticky.

Enjoy the soup! And the leftovers :)

-Nikki