As we are still confined to quarters, I remain steadfast in my desire to not only cook new and interesting dishes for Mr. C., but also to help you to do the same for your family.

Now anyone who knows me is aware of my love for Chinese food, ground beef, and broccoli. (Not always in combination, but you know what I mean!) So, the other evening I was hungry for Chinese food. I knew I had some broccoli that needed to be used and a pound of ground beef thawing on my counter. So before you could count from one thousand backwards, I had glommed together this recipe after perusing various cooking sites. None of the recipes I found were just what I was looking for. But I had cooked enough Chinese dishes over the years to have a pretty good idea of the flavor combination I was looking for. So with a little assistance from some of my favorite recipe writers, I hit upon this combination of ingredients. And lucky for me, I had everything I needed without having to get in our car, drive to our local grocery store, don a mask, gloves, and a standoffish attitude!  

So if you too love a good stir-fry and don’t want to spend bunches of money in the process, give this simple dish a try. It truly is tasty and very simple to prepare.

As always – have fun in your kitchen, be kind to those around you, and take extra special care of yourself. Cooks should always be appreciated (and thanked BTW), but probably never more than during this pandemic. So from this cook to you – thanks for all you do for your family. You do make a difference. Never forget that.

1 T. vegetable oil

1 lb. lean ground beef  

¼ tsp. kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

4-6 c. fresh broccoli florets and peeled stems, cut into bite sized pieces

½ med. sized onion, halved then thinly sliced

2-3 garlic cloves, finely minced

2-3 tsp. finely minced fresh ginger  

2 tsp. sesame oil

½ c. water

1 tsp. beef base (I use Better Than Bouillon – Beef flavored)

¼ c. low-sodium soy sauce

2 T. brown sugar

pinch crushed red pepper flakes

2 T. cornstarch

2 green onions, sliced on the diagonal

1-2 T. sesame seeds, opt.

steamed rice, for serving

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook until no longer pink. Remove from pan. (Don’t break the meat up too much as it cooks. You want some nice sized chunks.)

Add the broccoli and onion. Cook over medium heat until the broccoli is crisp tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute.

Meanwhile, whisk the sesame oil, water, beef base, soy sauce, brown sugar, crushed red pepper flakes, and cornstarch together.

Once the broccoli is finished cooking, add the meat back to the pan. Stir in the soy sauce mixture and cook until thickened, 1-2 minutes, stirring the entire time. Stir in the green onions. Garnish with sesame seeds. Serve over rice.