Beef and Winter Veggie Stir Fry

I love to make stir-fry, but it’s not a dish that I usually associate with winter vegetables. I’m more inclined to reach for peas and bell peppers than for kale, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts. But it turns out that fresh, winter veggies make a delicious and authentic stir-fry!

Sauce ingredients:
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup Tamari (or low-sodium soy sauce)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Stir-fry ingredients:
1 pound shaved beef (pastured and grass fed!)
1 nub of fresh ginger (about the size of a thumb), peeled and sliced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and sliced
1 cup kale, sliced into ribbons
2 cups cabbage, sliced into ribbons
4 Brussels sprouts, sliced into ribbons
1 cup baby carrots
1/2 cup raw cashews

Whisk together all of the sauce ingredients.

Put the beef, ginger, garlic, and onion into a wok. Put two tablespoons of the sauce in the wok and cook, stirring occasionally, until beef is just about done.

Add the kale, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cashews and the rest of the sauce to the wok. Stir together and cook for 2-3 minutes or until veggies are warm, but still crisp, and the beef is done.

Viola. A beef stir fry that keeps veggies at the center, and tastes delicious without tons of sugar, oil, or salt.

I eat this just as it is, but it can also be served over a mix of scrambled eggs and rice.

Scramble two egg whites and one whole egg (I like at least one yolk in there so that the scrambled eggs look a little yellow) in the wok or in a separate pan. Add the scrambled eggs to two cups of cooked brown rice and mix together. This makes a kind of a “fried rice” that cuts down on the carbs (even if you eat the rice) by including protein-packed egg whites in the mix.

I should note that my husband tolerates kale and cabbage, but despises Brussels sprouts. I slipped them into this stir-fry and he cleaned his plate without so much as a question about the ingredients. Score one for me in “putting food in his food”!