Domestic Education: Flank Steak, Asparagus, and Red Pepper Stir Fry

My husband is a very picky eater. He is also very easy to read when it comes to how much he likes something I cooked for him. If he gets seconds, he loves it. If he just finishes it, he thinks is ok. If he doesn't finish it, he hates it. He will rarely actually tell me he doesn't like something, and in the rare cases he does, he first tells me he likes it, and then a minute later tell me he actually doesn't.

One of those rare cases where he actually told me he didn't like something I made was when I first made him stir fry. Joe isn't the biggest fan of vegetables (even though he eats more now than he used to), and this stir fry was an attempt to get him to eat some. I had made my stir fry with an array of vegetables, shrimp, and stir fry sauce I got at the supermarket. He was "full" when all the shrimp was gone, but all the vegetables remained. I haven't even attempted to make it again.

That is, until I found this recipe. It is for flank steak, asparagus, and red pepper stir fry. Not only are all those things delicious, but you make your own stir fry sauce that is honestly better than any stir fry sauce I've bought at the store. You even use ginger, which is one of those items in the produce section that I've seen and wondered "who actually buys that?" I guess I'm one of those people now. I picked this one out because I thought it looked like a dragon.

The best part about this recipe (besides the ginger dragon) was that Joe loved it! He finished the vegetables, and even went back for seconds (even though seconds constituted going up and picking out all the remaing meat, but I will take what I can get).

Flank Steak, Asparagus, and Red Pepper Stir Fry

From Simply Recipes

For the Stir Fry Sauce:

3 Tbs. soy sauce

1 tsp. finely chopped ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

1 green onion, chopped

1/2 tsp. chili oil

For the Stir Fry:

3 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 lb. flank steak

1 red bell pepper, cut into strips

2 tsp. cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tbs. water

Cut the flank steak in half lengthwise, and then into thin strips. Boil water in a small saucepan and add the asparagus. Boil for 2 minutes, then drain, rinse in cold water, drain again, and set aside. Prepare the stir fry sauce by combining all the ingredients. Set aside.

Stir Fry the asparagus in 1 Tbs. of the vegetable oil on high heat. The original recipe says to use a wok, but since I don't have one, I just used a skillet. It worked just fine. Stir fry for 2 minutes, and then remove from pan and set aside.

Add another Tbs. of vegetable oil and stir fry half of the beef strips until browned but not all the way cooked through; about 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan, add the last Tbs. of vegetable oil, and stir fry the other half of the flank steak.

When the second batch of steak is cooked, return the first batch to the pan along with the bell pepper. Stir fry for about 1-2 minutes.

Stir the cornstarch mixture and add to the skillet along with the stir fry sauce. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, then add the asparagus and toss until coated with the sauce.