Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry

Stir fry your favorite veggies with a little beef for the perfect dinner tonight

A tantalizing blend of shiitake mushrooms, onions and red peppers stir fried with strips of beef and tossed together in a richly flavored sauce makes for an extra special meal for the family.

Tender beef will stir fry quickly and beautifully when sliced into bite size strips.  When preparing beef for stir fry avoid large tough cuts such as beef brisket, roasts or stew meat, or other cuts that require longer cooking times.  Thinly sliced flank or sirloin steaks work best.

Tip: I cut corners on this one and bought beef pre-sliced for “fajitas”.  I usually slice my own but this looked like the perfect size and it was! It took about 5 minutes to cook through and every forkful was the perfect bite size portion.

Red bell peppers add a crunchy sweetness and beautiful color to this dish.  I prefer the mildly sweet red pepper but I’ll leave it up to you to try any combination of peppers red, yellow, green or orange!

Meaty Mushrooms

Fresh shiitake mushrooms can be found sold in most grocery stores or your local community markets and fresh are perfectly fine to use in this recipe if you prefer.  Fresh shiitakes need to be wiped clean with a damp paper towel and then use a sharp knife to remove the tough stem right at the base.  Although I do not use the stems in cooking,  they are edible despite their tough texture so chop them up if you intend to use them or simply add them whole when making a pot of stock.

Shiitake mushrooms originally come from China and are known as a member of the medicinal mushroom family.  There are more than 200 variety of these and the most well known to you may be the reishi, maitake and shiitake.  Asian and European countries have cherished these potent disease fighting fungi for centuries but we in the U.S. are just beginning to come to accept them and treat them with the respect they deserve.

Clinical studies have proven that many types of mushrooms, including shiitake mushrooms, do indeed boost your immunity, arrest cancer or tumor growth and help fight infection. Lentinen, which comes in especially rich quantities in shiitake mushrooms, is an approved drug in Japan and is proven to increase life expectancy in patients suffering from certain types of cancer.

Fresh fungi may not look very impressive but studies indicate you can rev up your immune system and add fiber and loads of antioxidants to your diet by including more mushrooms with your meals.  Shiitake and many other variety of mushrooms are available fresh, dried, in powder form and canned.  Store fresh mushrooms in paper bags in coldest part of fridge.  Canned last in your cupboard for about a year. Dried mushrooms sealed in plastic in freezer last even longer.

Mushrooms are higher in vitamin D and B vitamins and contain more protein than any other produce. The high level of protein explains their appeal in vegan and vegetarian cooking.

In this stir fry recipe I ask you to marinate the meat first and although this requires a little more preplanning than you may be used to, you will notice the difference. Just 30 minutes of time spent marinating, improves the flavor of the meat and softens the meat as well.  It is definitely worth the extra effort.

If you want to avoid red meat but are tempted by the looks of this recipe, you may like my Easy Chicken Dinner  or another favorite that may tempt your tastebuds is my Ginger Chicken. On the other hand, if you are avoiding meat altogether I recommend you try my Weeknight Tofu & Broccoli Stir Fry 

The reason stir frying is so popular is because it is so quick and easy and typically these quick cooking meals taste healthy and fresh.  Just mix and match your favorite meat, or non meat protein, with 2 or 3 veggies combine with a simple sauce and you have got yourself a really great dinner any night of the week.

Try my Beef &Vegetable Stir Fry and don’t forget to come back and let me know what you think with your comment below.

Things you may need for this recipe:

• Soy sauce ~ substitute with same amount of tamari to make it gluten free.
• Mirin~ sweetened sake seasoning used regularly in Japanese sauces and dressings. Check the label for wheat.
• Dried shiitake~ follow directions on the package but usually takes about 30 minutes to reconstitute.