Beef Noodle Bowl

I found this recipe in one of my old Food & Family magazines from Kraft.  My biggest question is - "Why haven't I made this before?"  Since I found the recipe, I've made it twice with beef and once with chicken.  This is going to be a regular recipe around here. 

Beef Noodle Bowl
adapted from Kraft Recipes

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Italian salad dressing
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 8 oz. beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
• 8 oz. fettuccine or linguine, uncooked
• 3 cups broccoli florets
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 1 small onion, sliced

Directions:

1. Mix salad dressing, soy sauce, brown sugar and ginger.  Add sliced steak and marinate 30 minutes or longer.
2. Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, adding vegetables to the boiling water for the last 2 min.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet. Remove meat from marinade and add to skillet. Begin cooking and then add onions; cook until meat is browned on all sides and onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in remaining marinade; cook 2 min. or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally.
4. When pasta is cooked, add a ladle or two of pasta water to the meat mixture. Drain pasta mixture and add to meat mixture in skillet; toss to coat. 
5. Serve with garnish of red pepper flakes and/or cilantro, if desired.

Makes 4 servings, 2 cups each

This is really easy and tastes really good. It is best with steak and fresh vegetables, but I used boneless chicken thighs and frozen broccoli once, and that was pretty good, too.  You could probably adapt the recipe to use whatever vegetables you have or want to use - though carrots and broccoli are pretty much perfect. 

with chicken

I always set a bit of the pasta water aside to add to any leftovers - whatever looks good - because pasta tends to absorb liquid when it sits, and a little extra is welcome when it's time to heat it back up.  Of course, last time I made it, my husband was here, and there weren't any leftovers.  I guess he likes it too!

I really like to sprinkle a few red pepper flakes on top and cilantro if I have it.  The Kraft recipe says to sprinkle with dry roasted peanuts, which I haven't tried, but it does sound good - so maybe next time.