Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry

I found this recipe the other day on Pinterest. I'm pretty sure this is going to become a regular around here. Well, as regular as any recipe can be - there are just so many recipes out there that simply must be tried. That doesn't leave much time for repeats... But, seriously, the flavors in this are so good.

Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry
from BudgetByte$

Ingredients:

• Sauce
  * 2 T soy sauce
  * 1 T sesame oil
  * 1 T sriracha
  * 1-1/2 tsp brown sugar
• Stir Fry
  * 1/2 head green cabbage
  * 2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
  * 3 green onions
  * 2 cloves garlic
  * 1 T fresh grated ginger
  *1/2 lb. lean ground beef (or ground turkey or chicken)
  * Pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a small bowl stir together the soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, and brown sugar. Set aside.
2. Prepare vegetables so they are ready to go when you need them. Cut cabbage in half, remove the core, and then shred the leaves of one half the cabbage. Peel two carrots and cut into matchsticks (OR use a cheese grater to shred them). Slice the green onions. Mince two cloves of garlic. Peel a knob of ginger using either a vegetable peeler or by scraping with the side of a spoon, then grate it using a small-holed cheese grater.
3. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Once hot, add the ground beef, garlic, ginger, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook the beef until browned (about five minutes).
4. Add the cabbage and carrots to the skillet and continue to stir and cook until the cabbage is slightly wilted (or fully wilted, if you prefer). Stir in your prepared sauce and the green onions; heat through.
5. Serve with steamed rice, a sprinkle of sesame seeds, some chow mein noodles, and a drizzle of sriracha, as desired.

Note: this makes a medium spicy stir-fry, so if you're sensitive to heat, start with 1 tsp. sriracha and adjust as necessary. Pass the sriracha for those who like a little heat.

I love spicy, so I used the entire tablespoon of sriracha in the sauce, and I thought it was nicely flavorful but not really spicy at all. My husband said it was a bit spicy for his taste, but he loved the way all the flavors went together, and he ate it anyway. Next time I think I'll cut the sriracha down a bit for him and just drizzle a bit on top of mine. Or add some of this hot chili oil.

Also, as it's a stir fry, any other vegetables you have on hand and want to use can surely be thrown in. The more vegetables the better, right?

Italian Beef and Zucchini Stir Fry

I'm not sure where I originally found this recipe.  I cut it out of a magazine or something, and it's been in my recipe collection for ages.  Here's a copy of the original recipe I found over on Food.com.

Of course, I didn't follow the recipe, exactly, but I think that's part of the appeal of a recipe like this - you can substitute the ingredients you have on hand.  I didn't have any cherry tomatoes, but I did have one Roma - and a red pepper for some color.  I also added some sliced onion, because everything needs onions!

Italian Beef and Zucchini Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. spaghetti
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 8 oz. thinly sliced beef
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 a medium onion, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 2 small to medium zucchini, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup Italian dressing
• 1 Roma tomato, diced
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
2. While spaghetti is cooking, heat oil in skillet; add beef and stir fry until partially cooked, 2-3 minutes.  Add garlic, onion, and bell pepper and stir fry another couple minutes before adding zucchini.
3. When zucchini is crisp tender, season with salt and pepper and then add Italian dressing and diced tomato.  Heat through.
4. When spaghetti is cooked, add a ladle of the cooking water to skillet and set aside a little more (1/2 cup to a cup)  Drain spaghetti and add it to the skillet; mix it in and heat for a couple minutes to let everything combine.
5. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

I used whole wheat spaghetti, which was just perfect in this, but you can use regular spaghetti too.  A green bell pepper will work in this, too if that's what you have.  It's a simple recipe with a lot of flavor, and you can adjust it to suit your tastes or to use the items you have in your kitchen.

Even the leftovers are good!  This is where the reserved pasta sauce comes in - add it to your leftovers before refrigerating them.  Pasta tends to soak up extra moisture.  If you don't add the pasta water now, you will find you need to add water when you reheat, so you might as well use the good pasta water.

I've heard that there are people who won't eat leftovers, but if you liked it the first time, wouldn't you like it a couple days later?  Sometimes it's even better reheated because the flavors have had time to blend and improve.  But that's another topic.  Just try this recipe.  You'll like it.  Oh, and if you have lots of zucchini you're trying to figure out what to do with, try this first and then pass the rest to me.  I actually had to buy the zucchini I used in this recipe because I don't have a garden again this year, which makes me very sad.   Hard to believe when I was growing up I said I didn't want to have a garden when I grew up!

Related articles

• Italian Vegetable Fritatta
• 10 Delicious Ways to Use All That Summer Zucchini
• Beef & Noodles With Fresh Vegetables Recipe

Stir Fry

Stir fry is one of our favorite meals. I usually just use frozen stir fry vegetables, so it's really easy to make, too.

Chicken Stir Fry

Combine:

• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 T. soy sauce
• 1 T. oil
• and add 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1. Marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Heat a little oil in large skillet; add marinated chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes or until cooked.
3. Add stir fry vegetables - 2 16-oz. packages, 1/2 of a 64-oz. package like the one from Birds Eye, or at least 4 cups of cut up fresh vegetables. Cook until frozen vegetables are hot or until fresh vegetables are crisp tender.
4. Add sauce* and heat through. Serve with rice and chow mein noodles, and pass the soy sauce.

* Sauce:
The Birds Eye Stir Fry has included sauce packets, but if you need sauce, combine:

• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp. sugar
• 1 T. soy sauce
• 1/4 c. cold water

You can do just about anything you want with this. I picked the first zucchini from my garden Friday, and I had a green pepper that needed used. So, I cut those up and added them when the chicken was just cooked. I cooked the chicken, zucchini, and peppers, (and a little onion) for a couple minutes, and then I added the frozen vegetables (not quite 1/2 a package of the Birds Eye because I had used extra the last time) and cooked until everything was hot, then added the sauce that came with the frozen vegetables. It turned out so well that I'm thinking I need to start using more fresh vegetables in my stir fry!

• Print this recipe