Szechuan Beef Stir-Fry Recipe

My ex-husband did not cook.  Well, he did but only pork chops and rice.  And I get tired of pork chops and rice.  But, sometimes you have to call in the troops when things go awry.  Like this week.  Thanks to the wonderful people with the Texas Beef Council, I am back with four weeks of Healthy Meals to Fuel the Family!  I will make and share four healthy, nutrient rich meals that will tantalize not only your taste buds but your health conscious side as well!

This week on the menu is an amazingly good Szechuan Beef Stir Fry!  I could not wait to get started!  I went to the store, picked up the super affordable ingredients, and set the meal plan to have last Sunday!  And then my family was hit by a nasty stomach bug.  And Sunday dinner was spent doing laundry and taking temperatures and calling pediatrician’s offices.  By the time everyone recovered it was Wednesday and me and two of my daughters were still only about 25%.  And then an amazing thing happened.  My ex-husband stepped in and offered to make the meal and serve it up.

After eyeing him quizzically but eagerly accepting his offer, I perched myself on a bar stool and supervised from afar!  I must say, he did a fantastic job and I only had to give him a few reminders!

Here is the super easy RECIPE:

Ingredients for Szechuan Beef Stir-Fry

• 2 beef shoulder center steaks (Ranch Steaks), cut 3/4 inch thick (about 8 ounces each)
• 1 package (10 ounces) fresh vegetable stir-fry blend
• 3 Tbsp. water
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup prepared sesame-ginger stir-fry sauce
• 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 2 cups hot cooked rice or brown rice, prepared without butter or salt
• 1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts

Instructions

Combine vegetables and water in large nonstick skillet; cover and cook over medium-high heat 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove and drain vegetables. Set aside.

Meanwhile cut beef steaks into 1/4-inch thick strips.

Heat same skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add 1/2 of beef and 1/2 of garlic; stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes or until outside surface of beef is no longer pink. Remove from skillet; keep warm. Repeat with remaining beef and garlic.

Return all beef and vegetables to skillet. Add stir-fry sauce and red pepper; cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes or until heated through. Spoon over rice. Sprinkle with peanuts.

Suggestions

Four cups assorted fresh vegetables, such as sugar snap peas, broccoli florets, bell pepper strips and shredded carrots, may be substituted for 1 package vegetable stir-fry blend. Your favorite stir-fry sauce flavor may be substituted for the sesame-ginger flavor.

Nutritional Information

Nutrition information per serving: 351 calories; 11 g fat (3 g saturated fat; 5 g monounsaturated fat); 64 mg cholesterol; 1147 mg sodium; 29 g carbohydrate; 3.0 g fiber; 32 g protein; 5.4 mg niacin; 0.3 mg vitamin B6; 2.9 mcg vitamin B12; 4.1 mg iron; 33.0 mcg selenium; 6.6 mg zinc.

My tips and observations- or rather – My husband’s tips:

I could not find the ranch steaks.  I am sure I simply overlooked it with three kids hanging on me at the store so I grabbed some really lean stew meat that was already cubed.  My husband cubed it even smaller and it was very tasty.  However, I think the beef shoulder steaks would be more “stir-fry-e”.  

I chose to use an original stir-fry sauce over the sesame ginger for the kids and it was very good.  So you can change up the flavor of this meal with a new sauce and still keep it’s health content!

The next time I make this, I think I’ll chop my own fresh veggies from the farmer’s market as opposed to the frozen bag of stir fry.  I think it will add more flavor to the veggie side of things and have a little more crunch!

We left off the peanuts because my ex- husband is allergic.  And he did add more red pepper flakes on his for more flavor.  

This is a really a very easy recipe and I love that you can variate it and make it your own.  As long as you have the colors of the rainbow and the lean meats, it can easily be a family staple for any meal!

And here are our girls anxiously awaiting dinner!