Beef & Mushroom Stir Fry

After all the raves my husband gave me for my Thai stir fry last week, he requested another stir fry for dinner. For me, stir fries are those type of dishes where I can use up random vegetables. Today, I wanted to put some mushrooms and green onions to good use so I came up with this recipe for a Beef & Mushroom Stir Fry. The result was delicious, as it’s really hard to mess up a stir fry!

The key to a good stir fry is to prepare both your protein and vegetables in advance so everything is ready to assemble in the pan. Besides, the fun in making a stir fry is the assembly and tossing the ingredients together as it cooks. I also like coating my protein, in this case the beef, with a little cornstarch. When liquid is added into the pan, the cornstarch from the beef will slowly allow the liquid to thicken, creating a perfect sauce. Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your taste and substitute with other vegetables too!

1 lb lean beef, sliced thin
salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 onion, diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz sliced white button mushrooms
2-3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 bunches green onion, cut in 1 inch pieces

Season sliced beef with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Toss with cornstarch to coat and set aside.

In hot skillet, add the oil and saute garlic and onion until softened. Add sliced mushrooms and cook until slightly caramelized.

Once mushrooms have started to caramelize, add beef and brown.

Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and water; stir and allow it to come to a boil, scraping the cooked bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the liquid by half, which will thicken up due to the cornstarch from the beef.

Just before serving, add green onions and toss.

* To make ahead/freezer meal –Season sliced beef with salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Toss with cornstarch to coat and place in a quart sized freezer bag. Seal and freeze or chill in refrigerator. Prep the onions, garlic and mushrooms and place in storage container in refrigerator. When ready to prepare, defrost completely/allow meat to come to room temperature. Continue to follow the directions above and finish cooking.