BEEF BROCCOLI

On a day when we're stuck on the road and we're too hungry to wait for a home-cooked meal, Carl and I could never be grateful enough to Chinese take-out - and Panda Express has become one of our favorite to-go places. Carl always tells me that Chinese restaurants/diners doesn't invest much on how their place looks like - but they almost always make sure the food is good, the servings are huge, and the prices are awesome. For me, Panda Express is all about those three things plus, the nice place thats makes you want to eat inside their store. Whenever we resort to Panda, Carl always orders Orange Chicken and I always order Beef Broccoli, because I always try to have some vegetables on my meals.

I have this habit of eating something I really like from a restaurant over and over again, until I think I can make it at home myself and I wouldn't know the difference - and Beef Broccoli is my latest victim. Here's my MYOTO*  version of Beef Broccoli.

BEEF BROCCOLI

Ingredients:
1 lb beef, thinly sliced
1 crown broccoli, cut into spears
1 small onion, cut into rings
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup lemon/lime soda
1 cup beef broth (or 1/2 tbsp beef bouillon powder dissolved in 1 cup water)
1 tbsp garlic powder
salt
pepper
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp cornstarch.

In a bowl, marinate beef in 1/4 cup soy sauce, garlic powder, and salt, and pepper. Marinate for 1 to 2 hours.

In the mean time, blanch broccoli spears in boiling water for at least 3 minutes. Remove from hot water then shock in cold water, then set aside.
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In a hot skillet, saute garlic in butter, Rub marinated beef with cornstarch, then stri-fry it until browned. Add remaining 1/4 cup of soy sauce and beef broth. Stir together and let simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes. Add lemon/lime soda and simmer again for another 5 to 7 minutes. Add onion rings and broccoli spears, stir together and season with salt and pepper. Simmer until done, about another 5 minutes.

Serves 4-6.

In this recipe, I used lemon/lime soda to tenderize the beef faster and enhances the flavor of the meat. Also, because the broccoli is cooked separately and only added when the beef is almost done, it doesn't get overcooked and its vitamins are not lost with too much boiling. Broccoli is known to be rich is Vitamins A, C, and K, dietery fiber and nutrients with anti-cancer properties. If you are not a broccoli fan, you can substitute it with potato, zucchini, or green beans.

By the way, MYOTO is a term I learned from Racheal Ray's cookbooks, meaning Make Your Own Take Out.