Quick and Easy Stir-Fry

Oh, hey. How's it going? My hubby heads back to school today which means two things for me: boredom and a night time gym routine. 

I absolutely hate going to the gym at night for two reasons: 1) Working out wakes me up, which is why I normally go in the morning; 2) The gym gets really crowded at night, especially at this time of the year #thosedangnewyearsresolutions. I have a feeling that I'm going to be a lot less motivated to go to the gym in the coming weeks.

This is precisely why I am going to be joining the 8 Week "Get Healthy" Challenge over at Six Sisters' Stuff. You should too! It'll motivate me to go to the gym at night, which is really the only reason why I am doing it. Eight weeks isn't that long, right? 

If you do decide to do it with me, or even if you don't, here's a little healthy recipe for you today. This stir fry (like most) is super quick to make and will be on your table in 30 minutes or less, not including meat marinating time. The sauce is fairly customizable, so you can make it to please your taste buds. It also has no obscure ingredients that you'll buy to use once and never use again.

Quick and Easy Stir Fry

1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

1/3 cup chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, minced

OPTIONAL SAUCE ADD-INS: 1-2 tablespoons brown sugar or honey, a small amount of sriracha sauce or red pepper flakes, 1/2-1 teaspoon sesame oil, minced fresh ginger to taste

1 lb. boneless beef sirloin steak (or boneless skinless chicken breast), cut into 1/8 inch strips

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2-3 cups fresh stir fry veggies such as broccoli, snow peas, carrots, and/or shredded cabbage

4 teaspoons canola oil, divided

Combine first three ingredients in a small bowl. Stir in any desired add-ins: I like the first three ingredients alone if that is all we have on hand, but we also enjoy adding some of the other ingredients listed above on occasion. Reserve 1/4 cup of this sauce. Pour the remaining sauce over the meat in a ziploc bag. Seal and mix. Allow meat to marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour (the longer the better). 

When it is time to cook the meat, stir the cornstarch into the reserved 1/4 cup of marinade. In a large non-stick skillet saute fresh veggies in 2 teaspoons of hot oil until the veggies are crisp tender. If you like your veggies more tender cook them for longer. I find that adding 1 tablespoon of cold water to the hot skillet while the veggies are cooking creates a bit of steam that helps make them slightly softer (especially veggies like broccoli which take more time to cook).

Once veggies reach desired tenderness, remove from pan and keep warm. Drain and discard marinade from meat. Saute beef or chicken in remaining 2 teaspoons of oil for two minutes. Stir in reserved 1/4 cup of sauce and bring to a boil. Cook for one or two minutes or until sauce thickens ever so slightly. Return veggies to pan and stir to combine. Serve hot over rice with potstickers or egg rolls.

Recipe Source: The Taste Tester, adapted from Favorite Family Recipes

Shared here: On the Menu Mondays @ StoneGable, Totally Tasty Tuesdays @ Mandy's Recipe Box, Pin Me Fridays @ Diana Rambles