CEiMB: Emerald Stir-Fry with Beef

Hi everyone! First of all, thank you to everyone for the sweet comments on my Foodbuzz 24, 24, 24 post. I appreciate the feedback!

I’m really trying to get back on track with cooking and posting for CEiMB. I skipped last week for two reasons: 1) I was getting ready for my cooking party, and 2) I knew Scott wouldn’t eat the Five Layer Mexican Dip and I didn’t want a whole pan of it tempting me over the weekend. Looking back, I could have made it for dinner for my friends since we also had tacos. As the infamous “they” say, hindsight is 20/20.

This week, our group was hosted by Alyssa of Alyssa’s Two Bites, who has a lovely blog if you haven’t checked it out.

I was really looking forward to this week’s recipe, Emerald Stir-Fry with Beef. I love green vegetables, and this one included some that I normally do not add to stir fries – specifically asparagus and edamame. However, this ended up being a nice combination that also included broccoli (my favorite!) and snow peas.

I will admit that I did not follow the measurements of the vegetables exactly, but I did mix the mirin-soy-orange sauce exactly according to the recipe. I know some of the other CEiMB members found the sauce to be a little bland, but Scott and I both enjoyed it very much. I thought it was sweet but had a little heat from the addition of crushed red pepper flakes. I do think the recipe would benefit from a small amount of salt, which I am sure Ellie left out of the recipe due to the amount of soy sauce called for, but with the amount of fresh vegetables in the recipe I think it needs some added in.

I do plan on making this dish again. It was quick, easy, and flavorful and a good vehicle to get some fresh veggies into my husband. As he said, “I wasn’t too enthused when I first looked at it, but it is delicious!”

I also loved Alyssa’s idea to make the stir-fry with shrimp and to marinate it in the sauce while the vegetables cook. I will definitely try that next time!

Thanks to Alyssa for a great CEiMB pick!