Spicy Beef And Greens Stir Fry Recipe

This recipe is very good and easy. I have changed a recipe provided by EatingWell.com through Kitchendaily link. Here I have used Swiss chard and Kohlrabi leaves from my winter garden. The leaves of the Kohlrabi are great to saute and stir fry.

Ingredients:         Serves about 4-5 people

 1/4 cup rice vinegar or half water and half vinegar.
 (Or 1/4 cup apple juice or cider)

 1 1/2 T. Oyster-flavored sauce.
 (you can use the real stuff, but I think the cheap flavored kind tastes better. If you cannot find this you can use 1 1/2 T. soy sauce, 1/4 tsp kelp powder/granules or diced, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. sugar/sweet of choice. Or Try 1 T. soy sauce 1/2 T. fish sauce, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. sugar/sweet of choice).

 2 tsp. cornstarch

 1 tsp. sesame oil

 3 tsp. veggie oil

1 1/2 pounds beef sliced thin and bite size.
(you can try pork, chicken, shrimp or fish to). Use less meat, if less people are to be served. I use half the meat for two. FYI. You can buy a beef bottom roast and cut it to portion size and freeze or I have been buying 7 roasts from an organic cattle farmer and cutting it up into protion sizes to freeze.

1/4-1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes.
( I use 1/2 tsp).

About 1 pound of Swiss chard, kohlrabi leaves, Bockchoi or other greens that do well with fry/saute. Less or more. chopped to bite size and optional stems removed.

Sesame seeds about 2 T.

Cooked rice or rice noodles

(1) Whisk in the first 3 ingredients (Rice vinegar, oyster sauce, and cornstarch) in a small bowl until the cornstarch is dissolved.

(2) Heat 1 tsp. veggie oil and 1 tsp. sesame oil in a large skillet or wok over medium to high heat. Add beef and red pepper to taste, cook stirring, until beef begins to brown.  Transfer meat to bowl or plate.

(3) Heat up the other 2 tsp. veggie oil in same pan over medium to high heat and add greens. Stir and cook until they begin to wilt. Stir in the cornstarch mixture. Pour the meat mixture back into the pan. Add 1 T. sesame seeds and cook, stirring, until heated through and the sauce has thickened slightly.

Serve over cooked rice or rice noodles and sprinkle with more sesame seeds.

Kale Chips In The Oven Recipe

So, I picked some heirloom kale from my garden and decided to make some kale chips. Was going to use my new dehydrator, but it died on me. I am flustered and sad. Hoping to find a repair person in Austin to fix it. Anyway, I thought to try and dry them in my oven and this is how I made Kale chips in my oven.

Get a large bowl and put all the Kale's leafy parts and not the stems into the bowl. Try making them bite size. Then I pour a little olive oil in. Sometimes I put to much or to little. It is always a challenge. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder (opt.)  and some Brewers yeast (opt. to) mix with a hand until well blended and place on parchment paper or baking mat on a cooking sheet.

Turn your oven on to lowest setting. Mine is 170 F. Put your baking sheet or sheets of prepared Kale  in and on the racks. I turned my largest bake sheet side ways to block part of the oven door to have it not close all the way. I would say it was cracked open about an inch or two. My oven will not stay a little open on it's own. If yours will than doing that is a good idea, so not to over heat the food drying.

I baked/dried my Kale until the food was dry. I would check every 30-1 hour. It took about 2 hours.
They are very green and turned out great. Will remember to do this if I need to in the future.

Brussel Sprouts Sauted Recipe

Before this day I had never cooked or eaten Brussel Sprouts. They have a bad rap for being gross. I decided to grow some this winter. I thought, "What do I have to lose". Nothing. My garden is not the greatest soil. Hoping to remedy that this year. So my sprouts are growing slow and small. That is fine. I picked a few and cooked them as:

Ingredients:

A handful of sprouts per person. (one for me only) Cut them in half.
Some olive oil
salt
garlic powder
2-3 dried Italian sweet peppers. (Optional)

Simple and quick. Just pull out a fry pan and add 1-2 T. oil. Heat pan and add Sprouts cut side down. Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder. Saute on medium for about 3-4 minutes. Add dried sweet peppers if using. Flip the sprouts on their rounded side and stir all a bit for about 3 more minutes. Put onto plate and serve.

I was amazed how good these are. Wish I had tried them years ago. They are delicate with a warm, soft, fresh, mild cabbage flavor. Not over powering. Just right. Try something new. You just might like it or even fall in love with it.