Take-out, without the going out!

Hello All!!! Time for another awesome recipe from Rachael! On the menu today is a great take-out style meal that's totally easy to make at home. Here's "Teriyaki BBQ Beef or Chicken Noodle Bowls". 

My mom and Aunt Marla came up today so I decided to cook lunch for them. I wanted something I could get a small amount of groceries for as well as would be pretty simple to fix. I found this recipe last week when it was featured on Rachael's talk show during her "What's For Dinner" segment. It looked and sounded really good and I had some of the ingredients already in the pantry and fridge so I didn't have to buy too many ingredients. So first things first, you start the teriyaki BBQ sauce. 

You start out by mixing all the ingredients for the BBQ sauce in a pot and place it on the stove. Bring it up to a boil and then reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.  You'll notice that one of the ingredients here is a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger. Rachael Tip: Store your ginger in the freezer. If you store your ginger in the pantry or in a basket on the counter, it will shrivel up and go bad on you. But, if you peel it and the put it in the freezer you get a long shelf life and it won't shrivel on you! So anyway, you let the sauce simmer 20 minutes to combine flavors and then remove the ginger. 

Meanwhile, put your water on to boil in a large pot for your broccoli or broccolini and pasta. I used the broccolini here rather than broccoli. The broccolini is a little bit more tender in my opinion and in this I think it works well. Once the water comes up to a boil, salt it liberally and then drop your chopped broccoli or broccolini. Let it cook for about 5 minutes then remove it and drop the past and cook to al dente.

While the water is coming up to boil, place the blank steak or chicken in the freezer to firm up. Rachael Tip: If you put the meat in the freezer for about 15 minutes, it will firm up and make it easier to thinly slice. You can use either beef or chicken for this recipe. I chose to use beef. When i went to Publix, they actally had some beef that had been cut up into strips for stir frying or fajitas. I did still put it in the freezer and then slice the strips in half to make them a little bit thinner, as thinly sliced strips work better in this dish. While you are slicing he meat, heat a tablespoon of either vegetable or peanut oil over high heat until it smokes. I had safflower oil on hand from a previous recipe. It has a high cooking temp like that of peanut or vegetable oil so if you have that or any high temp frying oil, you should be fine. Once the oil begins to smoke add the meat and brown. Once it is browned, add in the edamame, broccolini and sauce and combine it together. Saute a minute or so to heat the edamame through. The recipe calls for some scallions finely chopped as a garnish. I don't particularly care for the flavor of raw scallions so instead I added them into the dish when I added the edamame and broccolini. If you like the  raw scallion flavor, by all means use it as a garnish. That's what I really enjoy about these recipes. They are versatile and leave you room to bend and tweak them to fit you and your needs. 

Once the meat is combined with the veggies and sauce, add in the pasta and toss to combine it all and then serve in shallow bowls. This one is a real winner. The flavors are fantastic. If you are a fan of take out give this a try. It's always healthier to make your own food and control what's in it rather than go out :) Look for another blog towards the end of this week. Until then, Happy Cooking Everybody!!!




Teriyaki BBQ Beef of Chicken Broccoli Noodle Bowls

For Teriyaki BBQ Sauce:
½ C. beef or chicken stock
1 C. organic ketchup
½ C. teriyaki or low-sodium teriyaki sauce
⅓ C. agave nectar or honey
3 Cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
½ Palmful coarse black pepper
1 Inch ginger root, peeled
 
For beef or chicken vegetables and spaghetti:
1 C. frozen, shelled edamame
¾ Lb. flank steak or boneless skinless chicken breast
1 Bundle broccolini or 1 small head of broccoli
1 Lb. whole wheat or whole grain spaghetti
2 Tbs. vegetable or peanut oil
4 Scallions, very thinly sliced on an angle

Preparation 

Place ingredients for BBQ sauce in a small pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes to thicken and concentrate flavor a little. Remove ginger root.
 

Place a large pot of water on to boil.
 

Pour a cup of edamame from freezer to defrost. Add meat to freezer to firm up, about 15 minutes.
 

Trim broccolini or broccoli and cut into 2-inch pieces. Add salt to boiling water and cook to tender crisp, 5 minutes. Remove with spider or slotted spoon and drain well. Add pasta and cook to al denté.
 

Remove meat from freezer and very thinly slice on an angle, against the grain if you’re using beef.
 

Heat oil, a turn of the pan, in a large skillet or wok over high heat until smoking. Add meat and stir-fry to brow. Add edamame, broccolini or broccoli and pour in sauce. Drain pasta and toss into the skillet to combine.
 

Serve in bowls topped with scallions.