Friday: Orange Beef with Noodles

I may have fibbed a little to my husband and told him this is almost exactly like ginger beef (it's totally not) but it is a nice asian-ish meal. I've read other versions of this that require tangerine peels and being as I have a hard time getting anything more exotic than your basic navel orange, I am going to go in that direction. Should you have access to tangerine peels, have at 'er!

You will need:

1 lb lean beef ( I like to use flank steak as it is very lean and cuts perfectly for strips. It is crazy expensive these days, so get it on sale and freeze it if you can)

Zest and the juice of one orange

1 Tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp cornstarch

1 inch piece ginger

1 large carrot, cut into 2 inch strips

2 green onions

First, start your marinade. Cut your beef into strips across the grain:

I find it easier if I cut it in half first

Then cut each piece cross ways

Place the beef in a bowl and sprinkle with the orange juice and zest. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. 

While you are waiting, prep your veggies. You will want to cut your carrots julienne, which just means in little matchstick shapes. 

First cut into two-inch chunks

Then each piece into slices, then each slice into littler shapes until they look like this. Ish.

They don't have to be perfect, the most important thing about cutting things julienne is that you want all the pieces to be relatively the same size. Then they will cook evenly! In theory.

Do 'em all!

Chop your ginger finely and your green onions thinly. Back to the beef!

Drain the meat, reserve the liquid, then mix in the soy sauce, cornstarch and ginger. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and stir-fry the beef for one minute. 

Add the carrot and cook for another couple of minutes.

Stir in the reserved marinade and green onions and cook, stirring until boiling and a bit thickened. 

This would be a good time to add in a little extra orange juice, if you have some and you like your  dishes a little saucier

Serve over egg noodles or brown rice. I have been a-ricing it up all week, so I am going with noodles. I portioned this into 3 servings and came up with 277 calories per. I really meant to do it in 4 servings but I got ahead of myself. I added noodles and salad and steamed veggies and called it a meal. Done!

Enjoy!