The Food Matters Project: Seared Bean Sprouts with Beef and Sesame Orange Sauce

I decided to join the Food Matters Project several weeks ago and I am so so excited to be a part of this group.  I share almost the exact food philosophies with this group and I really need this challenge to help me with my creativity and originality in the kitchen.  I also love that I get to see how many different people interpret the same recipes.  I really encourage you to check it out and see all the different ways you can adapt just one recipe!



Now I just got the book today in the mail, and the recipe that was chosen by Dominica from Wine Food Love is a stir fry.  I have seen many interpretations including empanadas and lettuce wraps which look incredible, but since I was pressed for time and really wanted to become a part of the project this week I decided to go fairly classic and make a stir fry of my own with some adjusting to suit my tastes!

I don't know if you know this about me, but I am obsessed with mushrooms.  I use them in most of my cooking.  I thought they'd be perfect so I added them to this recipe and sauteed them in sesame oil.  Mark Bittman calls for sesame seeds, but I'm not crazy about the texture so I used sesame oil for all of my cooking to still get the great sesame flavor.  I sauteed thin slices of sirloin beef tips for just a couple of minutes with salt and pepper and set both the mushrooms and beef aside in a bowl once they were done cooking.

The grocery store did not have bean sprouts so I used pea shoots for the first time and they were amazing and so healthy!  They added a heartiness to the stir fry that sometimes is lacking in mine.  I also couldn't resist adding snow peas because they just belong in stir fry.  I sauteed these for a couple of minutes with a large handful of green onions just until they were tender.  Then I combined everything in a pot (because I don't have a gigantic enough pan) and added Mark Bittman's ingredients for the stir fry sauce: 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of honey, and the zest and juice of 2 oranges (I made it 3).

I let everything simmer together for a couple of minutes and ended up with a wonderful, gorgeous stir fry!  I also made quinoa to serve with it because I always favor quinoa over rice.  Try it once, the texture is actually excellent with the veggies.

I can't wait to dive deeper into this project and experiment more with the recipes as I get more involved!

Seared Bean Sprouts with Beef and Sesame Orange Sauce

1 container of baby bella mushrooms
1 package of beef sirloin tips
1 package of pea shoots
1 package of snow peas
1 bunch of green onions
3 oranges, zest and juice
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3-5 tablespoons sesame oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Quinoa to serve with it