Welcome to week 5 of The Food Matters Project! This week Dominica from WineFoodLove is our host. Dominica chose “Seared Bean Sprouts with Beef and Sesame Orange Sauce”. To see the original recipe, make sure to stop by her blog here.

This is an easy and really versatile recipe.  Perfect for a weeknight dinner!

Bean Sprouts have become hard to find in my area.  Most grocery stores here don’t even carry them at all anymore and by the time I got to the Whole Foods location I know usually stocks them, they only had one 8-ounce bag left.  With that single bag in hand and since the original recipe called for two bags (1 pound), I knew I needed to get creative and raid my fridge.

I had some green beans that needed to be used, so I  modified the original recipe by adding one pound of green beans, some cornstarch to the beef, using less oil, a bit more honey and a kick of heat with crushed red pepper flakes.

That is the great thing about Mark Bittman’s recipes, they are ALL so unbelievably versatile and sort of hard to mess up. To check out what creative concoctions the other Food Matters Project members made this week, head over here!

NOTES:

The Food Matters Project: Sesame Orange Beef with Bean Sprouts + Green Beans
 
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Prep:

Cook:

Total:

 

5 Points Plus Per Serving — Recipe Makes 4 Servings — Individual Serving is approximately 1.5 heaping cups
By,:
Serves:: 4

Ingredients
  • ½ pound lean sirloin, sliced very thin
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch or arrowroot
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
  • 4 teaspoons canola oil or coconut oil, divided
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound string beans, ends trimmed and cut into 2″ pieces
  • ½ cup water
  • 6 to 8 scallions, thinly sliced, whites and darks separated
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce or Tamari
  • 2 large organic oranges, juiced and zested (I got ½ cup juice and 1 T zest)
  • 2½ tablespoons honey
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 8 ounces bean sprouts

Instructions
PREP: [img:1]
  1. Thinly slice beef. Combine with cornstarch and set aside. (I recommend freezing the beef for 20 minutes before slicing so it is easier to work with)
  2. Wash oranges and zest. Proceed to juice the oranges over a measuring cup. I yielded 1 tablespoon orange zest and just shy of ½ cup of orange juice.
  3. Combine soy sauce, orange juice, orange zest, honey and crushed red pepper flakes. Set aside.
  4. Separate white and dark parts of scallions. Thinly slice.
  5. Trim ends of green beans and cut green beans into 2″ pieces.
COOK:
  1. Heat a dry frying pan over medium low heat. Once hot, add sesame seeds. Toast for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until seeds are just brown but not burnt. Remove from pan and set aside.
  2. Place pan back over heat and turn heat to high. Add 2 teaspoons canola oil. When oil is very hot, add sliced beef to pan. Toss ½ teaspoon kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper on beef and cook a couple of minutes, until pink is almost gone. Flip once or twice and make sure to scrap bottom of pan. Remove from pan and set aside. (I recommend slightly under cooking the meat because you will be adding it back to the pan and you don’t want it overcooked and tough.)
  3. Toss string beans and ½ cup water in frying pan. Cover and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until green beans are just tender. Drain or use a slotted spoon to remove beans from pan and discard water.
  4. Add remaining 2 teaspoons canola oil to frying pan. When hot, add scallion whites and bean sprouts. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly until scallions are just browning.
  5. Add green beans, beef, sauce and ½ teaspoon kosher salt back to pan. Cook until heated through, about 1 to 2 minutes. Mix scallion greens and toasted sesame seeds in (reserving just a teaspoon of each for garnish).
  6. Serve immediately and Enjoy! Excellent served alongside brown rice or Quinoa.

 

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