Broccoli Salad

I was at my friend Kristi's house not long ago and she was having a party where everyone was bringing a dish of some kind.  One of her neighbors brought a broccoli salad and it was a huge hit!  Seems so easy now that I know the recipe!  Nice healthy broccoli in a creamy sauce made from mayo, sugar and vinegar and sprinkled with BACON! Bacon makes eating a nice healthy broccoli salad seem less healthy and more delicious.  The addition of sunflower seeds right before serving really pushes this salad over the top. Every so often you get a bite of the dried cranberry and some red onion.  Whoever thought of this is a genius!

I found this recipe here

10 slices bacon
1 head fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sunflower seeds

In a large frying pan cook the bacon until crisp, move to a plate covered with a paper towel to absorb any grease and let cool.  You can either cook the bacon in full slices and then crumble when cool enough, or you can cut the bacon into pieces before frying it (which is what I did).

In a small bowl combine the mayo, sugar and vinegar and mix until smooth.  In a larger bowl cut the broccoli into bit size pieces.  Chop the red onion into small pieces.  Add the onion and the raisins to the broccoli and coat in the dressing.  Reserve the bacon pieces and sunflower seeds until just before you serve it.

Beef, Broccoli and Noodles

I get to take full credit for this recipe, unless you don't like it.  I had stew meat in the refrigerator that needed to be used; and its too hot to make a comfort meal like stew so this is what I came up with.  The good thing about this recipe is you can change it up anyway you want and add different veggies, different noodles or meat.  Its flexible.

I started by browning the stew meat in a non-stick skillet until brown on all sides.  I didn't add oil or anything. 

Next I added some flour

Then some beef broth, soy sauce, garlic powder and a little sugar.

Ginger is very important here since that's the ingredient that actually makes this taste Asian.  I put in about a teaspoon to a teaspoon and a half.

I used fresh broccoli but you could add any variety of veggies you like.

Mix the broccoli in with the meat and sauce, stirring to coat.  Let cook until the broccoli reaches the desired tenderness.  You could also cook the veggies beforehand to speed things up.

I used Rice Noodles but any pasta will work.  You could also leave out the pasta and just serve this with rice.  Cook the noodles or rice before adding.

Stir to coat and serve immediately.

Here's what you'll need:
1 lb beef - I used stew meat but you could use steak cut into strips
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups beef broth - this will sort of depend on what kind and how much meat you're using.
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 to 1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger minced
1 tsp garlic powder - more to your taste (or you could use 1 clove of fresh)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 heads of broccoli - cut into bite sized pieces
1 pkg of rice noodles

Brown the beef in a hot skillet until brown on all sides. Add the flour to the beef and stir until the beef is coated.  Add the beef broth, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and sugar and stir until well mixed.  Let cook on medium heat until the sauce thickens.  You will want more sauce then you feel is needed so it can coat the broccoli and noodles.
Once thickened, add the broccoli and cook until the broccoli reaches the desired tenderness.
Add the noodles and serve immediately.