more inauthenticity! but tasty.

Much like curry peas and "Vietnamese" chicken salad, this recipe cannot claim to be authentic ethnic food. It just takes a few of those original flavors and mixes them up in a new and simple way. Thumbs up from us.

Bonus feature: if you do the vegetable slicing ahead of time you can have this meal ready in 20 minutes, tops. Last week, smart me did all the prep work in the morning, and when I proceeded to fall ill in the afternoon with a bad case of the sneezles, darling husband was able to come home from work and get dinner on the table presto. I love him.

Also, I want a wok.

---

Marinated Beef Stirfry
(my own concoction)

1 lb flank steak*
1/4 cup beef stock
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds
2-3 tablespoons coconut oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
red pepper flakes (optional)
vegetables as desired
salt to taste

1) Slice beef thinly, cutting against the grain; place in nonreactive bowl. Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over beef. Cover and refrigerate for 6-10 hours.
2) Wash and slice vegetables. I used a bunch of slender asparagus, a small yellow bell pepper, six large mushrooms, and some shredded cabbage (red gives gorgeous color).
3) Melt coconut oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Once pan is hot, use slotted spoon to remove beef from marinade, reserving bowl of marinade for sauce later on. Toss beef into skillet along with minced garlic, and red pepper flakes if you like it hot; listen to the satisfying sizzle. Saute until meat is browned on all sides. Remove from skillet and set aside.
4) Add more coconut oil if needed, then toss in your vegetables and saute until just crisp-tender. Season well with salt. Return beef to skillet and pour in the reserved marinade. Raise heat to high to that liquid comes to a boil, and let boil for 30 seconds.** Toss everything together well and taste; if it needs more salt or spice, you know what to do. Serve over rice noodles if you like, with a nice big spoon for that sauce.

*Or not. So long as it's not chuck roast, which is too tough for high-heat cooking, you should be able to use a lot of different beef cuts here. Last time I just sliced up stew meat cubes!
**If you want a thick sauce to coat everything, whisk 1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch or arrowroot powder into marinade before pouring into skillet and bringing to boil.

{image credit: ottawacooking}

Shared on Simple Lives Thursday.