Stirfried Beef with Bell Peppers

Super-easy basic stirfry recipe – the trick is to keep the food moving and not overcook it, or you will have tough meat, limp veggies, and too much juice! If you have a small wok, cook the food in 2 batches, or it will crowd the pan and steam instead of stirfry.

Once again, I strongly encourage you to cook with grassfed beef – the flavor is unbeatable, and the impact on the environment much smaller. For more information on this, see “The cost of steak.” Grassfed beef (as well as pastured pork, bison, and chicken) is ever-more present at farmers’ markets and even at some conventional stores – try to buy the meat labeled “grassfed, grass-finished,” which means the animal never saw the inside of a CAFO/feedlot. This recipe can be made with just about any cut – the shreds are small, so even a large-grain piece such as flank steak will come out tender. For an extra-special treat, try it with tenderloin!

ingredients:

• 12 oz beef (see note in intro)
• 1 red bell pepper (or use a combination of red/yellow/green/orange – whatever’s in the market!)
• 1 T oil
• 1/2 tsp salt

marinade:

• 1 T light soy sauce
• 1 tsp Shaoxing cooking wine
• 1 tsp tapioca flour or cornstarch

method:

1. Cut the beef across the grain into thin strips, approximately 1/8×1/8×2″ long.
2. Combine the beef with the marinade ingredients in a bowl and allow to rest for 15-30 m. Drain off the marinade before cooking.
3. Wash and dry the pepper(s), then Cut off the tops and bottoms, removing the seeds. Cut the peppers into thin strips, again approximately 1/8×1/8×2″ long, set aside.
4. Heat the oil in the wok over high heat until it shimmers.
5. Add the beef and stirfry quickly just until the outside is brown – the inside should still be pink, approximately 1 m.
6. Add the peppers and stirfry 15-30 seconds more.
7. Add the salt, stir to combine thoroughly, then remove from the heat.
8. Adjust the seasoning, and serve.

nutritional data:

I have used conventional flank steak for my calculations – still need to get hold of the nutritional content of grassfed beef! As with other dishes where marinade is used, it is hard to estimate how much marinade is drained off before cooking – the calculations here are based on the assumption that it’s approximately 1/2. The relatively high level of fat calories, cholesterol, and sodium can be balanced out by serving the dish with plenty of brown rice and some vegetable-centric dishes. The recipe serves 4 as part of a larger meal, and the figures given are per serving.

• Total calories 178, calories from fat 86
• Total fat 10 g, saturated fat 3 g
• Cholesterol 29 mg
• Sodium 467 mg
• Total carbs 2 g, dietary fiber 1 g, sugars 1 g
• Protein 18 g