Our house smelled like a Chinese buffet tonight! Do you have a Chinese Buffet where you live?

Where I am from there is a restaurant called “Dynasty Buffet” and they have every kind of yummy food you could order at a Chinese restaurant, plus several conventional American foods (like pizza and meatloaf), a salad bar, a bajillion cute little dessert things, and tons of different kinds of sushi.

I never thought about the smell of the restaurant until I made this beef and broccoli stir fry. Do you want to know what a Chinese Buffet smells like? Just whip up this stir fry. As it is almost done cooking close your eyes, and you will feel like you are at a Chinese Buffet!  Okay, now pretend I am there with you and I say, “Hey! Let’s go check out the beef and broccoli stir fry! I hear it’s delicious.”  Okay, now open your eyes and BAM! There it is! 😉

One satisfying serving (as the recipe is described below) is 8 Weight Watcher smart points. If you want to shave off 2 WW FreeStyle Smart Points per serving you can use 1 pound beef instead of 1-1/2 pounds. If you want to shave off 1 WW FreeStyle Smart Point per serving you can cut out the quinoa.

Are you dying to try this now? Of course you are! It really is delicious! Five out of five people in my home approved of this recipe . . . which is saying A LOT!

Here is what you need:

3 T. reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 T. rice wine vinegar
1/4 t. crushed red-pepper flakes
1 1/2 lb. trimmed boneless beef top round, cut across the grain into 1″ bite-size pieces
2 stalks broccoli (about 5 cups)
1 (14.5 oz.) can fat-free reduced sodium chicken broth
1 T. cornstarch
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced or chopped jarred ginger (in produce by jarred garlic)
1 large red bell pepper
3/4 c. uncooked quinoa

Here is what you do:

Combine beef, soy sauce, vinegar, and red-pepper flakes in a medium bowl. Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

If you have a steamer basket with a large pot (example: mine is pictured below) fill the pot with at least 2″ of water and set to boil.

Break broccoli into small pieces. Steam broccoli over the boiling water in the basket until crisp-tender, about 6-8 minutes. Remove from steamer and set aside. Alternatively, you can cook the broccoli in a pot of boiling water until crisp tender.

 

Mix 1/3 cup of the chicken broth and cornstarch in a cup and set aside. (I opened the can with my handy dandy bottle opener, but poking holes in two places)

Pour the rest of the chicken broth into a medium saucepan. Add the (rinsed) quinoa.  Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until quinoa is tender, about 15 minutes.

Drain beef, reserving marinade. Warm 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry 30 seconds.

Add the beef and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 7 minutes; transfer to plate.

Add remaining oil to skillet and set heat to medium-high heat. Chop bell pepper into strips or chunks.

Stir-fry bell pepper until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

(you see what I did there?)

Return beef and any juices, reserved marinade, and broccoli to skillet. Mix and stir-fry until heated through, about 2 minutes.

Add cornstarch mixture and cook stirring, until the liquid thickens.

Scoop 1/4 c. cooked quinoa onto serving plate and top with 2/3 c. of the beef and broccoli mixture.
Makes 6 servings.
One serving is 8 WW FreeStyle Smart Points

Can we just talk about how cute quinoa is when it is scooped with a measuring cup? There is just something fun about the way it holds together, right?

Wallah! Dinner is served!