Orange Beef Broccoli

This dish is inspired by my favorite Chinese take out.

Marinade

 Servings: This will marinate up to 2 pounds of steak and give you an extra cup for sauce.

Time: Prep 10 minutes Resting: 2-6 hours

Hardware: Measuring cups and spoons, a cutting board and knives, a glass (or some other non-reactive) bowl, wooden spoon or a whisk, NO POWDER latex gloves, a large plastic Ziploc bag, a container for saving a cup of liquid (a plastic Glad container, an old jelly jar), and a refrigerator

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup rice wine vinegar (you can substitute apple cider vinegar)
• 2 cups orange juice
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 1/8 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sliced ginger
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 chopped green onion (all of it, even the green part)
• 1 large hot pepper, diced (I use Serrano peppers. Choose whatever pepper you like. The seeds and the white ribs of a pepper contain the heat. So remove these accordingly. If you aren’t into spicy food, remove all of the seeds and ribs. I just wash and dice mine. I like hot. Always seed and chop peppers using gloves.)
• 1 ½ pounds 1 inch thick sirloin steak

1. In a large glass bowl mix all of the ingredients except the steak.
2. Reserve one cup of the marinade. It will become sauce later. Store it in the fridge until you need it.
3. Put the steak in the Ziploc. Pour the remaining marinade in the bag too. Place that in the fridge. (I always put this in a bowl, bag and all, because sometimes those zippers unzip. Then you have a huge mess.)
4. Marinate from 2-6 hours, turning the bag over every once in a while. 

Orange Beef Broccoli

Servings: 6

Hardware: Measuring spoons, a large skillet that can be used on top of the stove and in the oven (I use a cast iron frying pan), tongs, a cutting board, knives, a plate, tin foil, a wooden spoon, a measuring cup, a fork

Time: Prep: 5 minutes Cooking: 20 minutes

 Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 ½ pounds marinated steak
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1-12 ounce bag of Steam-In-the-Bag frozen broccoli florets
• 3 green onions
• 1 small orange (when buying an orange make sure to find one with a beautiful skin)
• 1 cup of cold water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 cup of the reserved marinade
• 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds

1. Pre-heat the oven to 500.
2. Wash and dry the vegetables and fruit.
3. Heat the olive oil in the skillet on high. You want the pan to be HOT.
4. Drain the steaks and place the steaks in the very hot pan. The idea is to sear the outside.  Allow the steaks to sear for two minutes on each side. Turn them with the tongs.
• Hint: Always turn meat with tongs. When you use a fork, you must pierce the surface, allowing juices to escape, and in the process drying out the meat.
5. Put the steaks, in the same pan, into the pre-heated oven. Cook them 5 minutes for rare and 7 for medium rare. If you want them cooked more than that, you should stop eating steak.
6. While the steaks are in the oven prep the veggies.
7. Seed the pepper and remove the inner white ribs. Slice it into long thin strips.
8. Chop the green onions.  Discard the root.



Beautiful & healthy

9. Slice the orange against its natural segmentation. You want orange wheels. Remove any seeds or fibers.
10. Remove the pan from the oven. Careful it is HOT. Place the steaks on the plate and loosely tent them with foil.
11. Put the same pan onto a medium high burner. Open the bag of frozen broccoli and pour it into the pan. Stir fry for 2 minutes.
12. Add the pepper. Stir fry for another 2 minutes.
13. Add the green onion and the orange. Cook for a minute. Push the vegetables to the side.
14. Add the cornstarch to the cold water. Use the fork to mix until the cornstarch is completely dissolved.  Add the cornstarchy water and the reserved marinade to the hot pan and stir. Allow it to boil. The mixture should thicken.
15. Stir so that all the vegetables are covered and remove the dish from the heat.
16. Slice the steak, against the grain, into bite sized strips. Add to the vegetables.
17. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds.

Serve immediately with Baked Egg Rolls for an Asian-inspired meal. 

It can be eaten over rice, Raman noodles (yes those Raman noodles, just drain completely and discard the flavor pack), rice noodles, or egg noodles.

This dish is so vibrant that it doesn’t need garnish.