Another week, another set of lunches. This past weekend we celebrated Father’s Day. As a result of said Father’s Day, we had a copious amount of grilled steak and grilled chicken left.
So I decided to make some lunches with these leftovers.
Beef & Broccoli
5 or 6 Grilled Rib-Eye Steaks (Cut into strips)
1 Head of Fresh Broccoli (or 1 Cup of Frozen)
1/8 Cup of Water
2 Tbsp. of Hoisin Sauce
2 Tbsp. of Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp of Sugar
2 Tsp of Corn Starch
1 Tbsp of Sesame Oil.
Fire up your Wok or Cast Iron or Pan (I know a Wok is probably the best way to do it, but not everyone has one or knows where theirs is. ). Add the sesame oil and heat it until it’s close to smoking.
In a tiny bowl, mix together the sauces, sugar, and corn starch. This will serve as your brown sauce for the dish. The corn starch allows the sauce to thicken rather than remain watery.
* Corn starch is a great tool in the kitchen, if your sauce or dessert is watery, just mix some corn starch with some cool water and add it to your dish, it will help thicken it up.
Once the Pan is nice and hot, add your meat. As soon as you get a nice sear on the meat (most of the meat we had was cooked to medium, so it wasn’t going to immediately dry out with cooking it one more time), add the water. Once the water reduces, go ahead and add the broccoli. You need to be careful not to overcook your broccoli, it’ll continue to cook even after you take the pan off the burner from all the residual steam. Once the broccoli begins to change colors to a more dark rich green, add your sauce. At this point you can reduce the heat and slowly stir the sauce into your dish.
Enjoy!
Peanut Chicken
2 or 3 Grilled Chicken Breasts (Diced)
1/2 Cup of Diced Mushrooms
1/8 Cup of Water
1 Tbsp of Thai Red Curry
1 Tbsp of Cilantro
1 Tbsp of Chopped Lemongrass
1/2 Cup Coconut Milk (You can easily make this at home, by blending shredded coconut with some hot water and then straining it through a nut bag [ I know Nut Bag, Hilarious])
1 Tbsp of Sugar
2 Tbsp of Peanut Butter
First mix the coconut milk, peanut butter, and sugar together in a bowl and set aside.
Heat up your pan and proceed to add the curry, cilantro, and chopped lemon grass. Once this has started sizzle, add your chicken breasts. Since the chicken is already cooked, you want to make sure not to dry it out. Add the water and allow it to reduce slightly with the chicken.
Now add your sauce mixture you made in the beginning to the dish. Followed by your mushrooms.
Cook until the mushrooms soften up slightly and the dish thickens.
Enjoy!
