Black Bean Beef and Vegetable Stir-fry

I never really understood "stir-fry" in Chinese cuisine until I moved to Canada. It is such a widely used term for anything that is "stirred" while cooking. To me, "stir-fry" is more akin to chop suey, which is really anything that you have in the fridge that'll taste good when mixed together.

So, as you browse through my recipes, you may find "stir-fry" dishes popping up several different times. They are not the same recipe that has a variant, but rather they are what I had on hand, tasted amazing, and I wanted to share with you.

This kind of cooking is definitely home-style. They are the easiest dishes to cook, and also the fastest.

Tonight, as I browsed through my fridge and wondered what I would make, kai-lan (pronounced gai-laan) leaves which I had washed and set aside from last night's dinner (I only used the stems last night), and napa cabbage found its way into my hands. I had a packet of ground beef and some mushrooms left over from last night. As I put these things together, my recipe was beginning to form in my head. Below is the result and the photo above is how it looked.

Enjoy!


Black Bean Beef and Vegetable Stir-fry

1 lb ground beef
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
1/2 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 lb Kai-lan leaves, 1" slices
8 leaves Napa cabbage, 1" slices
2 TBSP water
4 mushrooms, cut into 1/8's

1/2 extra large onion, largely diced
5 cloves garlic, sliced
2 stalks green onion, sliced roughly
1/2" grated ginger (optional)

1 TBSP black bean sauce

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1. Mix well ground beef together with the next four ingredients, let sit 15-20 minutes
2. Heat a wok until very hot, add vegetable oil until smoking
3. Add beef and fry until cooked through, add the onions, garlic, and ginger (if using). Cook until the onions are semi cooked. Add black bean sauce and mix very well
4. Add the kai-lan and napa cabbage, mix together well (add a little water if needed). Cover and cook for about 3, uncover and stir well - if cabbage and kai-lan is not cooked*, cover and cook for another 2 minutes
*You do not want to over cook the vegetables
5. Add the mushrooms, stir well and serve almost immediately

Serve with steamed rice

Stuffed Chicken Breast

I first made this about a year ago and served it with a barley risotto, and a side salad; it was really good and my husband loved it also.

It is very easy to make and rather fast also, plus its healthy too.

Ingredients:

2 chicken breast, skinless and boneless
1 tsp crushed garlic (preserved in oil)
½ tsp chicken powder
¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
½ cup grated cheese
4 bacon rashers (cut into ¼’s)
1 green onion (spring onion – cut into 1 inch pieces and julienne)
Sliced mushrooms (approx 1 mushroom per breast)
1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves
12 toothpicks

Method:

1. Heat oven to 400°F

2. Rinse and dry chicken breasts and pop into a Ziploc sandwich baggie – seal but make sure air is out of bag. 1 breast per bag.
3. Hammer the breasts until flattened out. Be careful to not “mash” the breast, and don’t hammer too thin.

4. Mix garlic and chicken powder and pepper together well. Spread half of the mixture all over each breast.
5. Lay half of the bacon on each breast.
6. In the middle of the breast place ½ of the julienne green onions, layer on top the mushrooms, ½ shredded cheese on each breast, and finally ½ cup spinach on each breast.
7. Roll up two sides and “pin” together with toothpicks. Pop in oven for 35-40 minutes or until cooked through.


Serve with steamed rice, slightly buttered brown rice, buttered pearl barley, or quinoa; steamed vegetables or green salad.