He Cleaned His Plate And Asked For Seconds

Anyone who knows my son, knows how that NEVER happens.  And I truly mean never!  Oh, he’ll ask for seconds on fruit or dessert, or something sweet, but never, never the “real food” on his plate.

Last  night, I watched in sheer amazement as my son tasted his supper, proclaimed that he REALLY liked it, and then proceeded to shovel it in.  A few minutes later, he looked at me, grinned, and asked for seconds.

People, he ate cooked broccoli, of all things!  I cannot emphasize how amazing this was to watch unfold last night.

Even better?  This recipe was one of the easiest I have ever made.

I was thinking about making dinner yesterday afternoon, and debating what I wanted to  make.  I had a head of broccoli and a head of cabbage in the fridge- and all I knew was that somehow I wanted to use those.  Beyond that… I had no idea.  I started thinking about a beef and broccoli stir-fry, only the only beef I had on hand was ground beef, and I really didn’t want to make another run to the store this weekend.   Then I started thinking about a cooking show I’d watched briefly Saturday.  I have no idea what the show was, but there was a woman showing how to cook a Szechuan dish of ground pork and eggplant.  I’ve seen ground pork used in Asian dishes before, and wondered if anyone ever used ground beef.

I pulled a cookbook off my shelf called The Big Book of Wok.  I’ve cooked out of it a few times, but haven’t lately.  It was a gift, along with my wok a few years ago from my sister, and as I flipped through the book, I was reminded that I should cook from it more often.  Except I don’t cook from it more often because most times Zander does not like stir-fries.  At all.  He will push it around on his plate and make it look like he’s eaten some, maybe pick out a few pieces of meat, but he won’t eat it and just a short while after dinner he’s looking for a bowl of cereal.

This recipe for Hoisin Beef Stir-Fry was ridiculously easy to put together.  I subbed in broccoli instead of green beans, and I added a few fresh grinds of pepper.  Otherwise, I followed it exactly.  It does come out sweet- that’s what the hoisin sauce does to the beef.  But Andy and I each added a good dollop of a spicy chile-garlic sauce to our plates, and oh my, was that ever good.  Spicy and sweet, I served it over rice, with cabbage on the side, it was a perfect quick dinner, and I’ll definitely be making it again.

Hoisin Beef Stir Fry

6 Tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 Tablespoons oyster sauce

3/4 cup water

2-3 Tablespoons sunflower oil

1 pound ground beef

1 large onion, minced

2 carrots, diced

handful of fine green beans, trimmed and sliced diagonally (I used one head of broccoli)

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced (or 1/2 teaspoon dried, ground)

Directions:

Mix together the hoisin sauce, oyster sauce and water in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Heat a wok until hot.  Add the oil, then add the beef and stir-fry it until browned.  Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add more oil to the wok if necessary (I did not need more oil), then toss in the onion and stir-fry for 4 minutes.  Add the carrots and the beans (or broccoli) and stir fry for 2 minutes.  (I gave it closer to 4 or 5 because of the broccoli), then add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute longer.

Pour in the hoisin sauce mixture, stir in the beef, and cook for 3 minutes.  Serve immediately.