Budget Beef and Broccoli

Much like my Cheap and Easy Turkey Stir Fry, semi-authentic beef and broccoli can be made with just a few pantry/freezer staples.  It's the sort of thing I can put together when I'm getting low on groceries or low on cash and need to shop frugally.  It can also be a great regular option in your meal planning since it takes just a few cheap ingredients and if you keep your pantry stocked, you'll have everything you need to have this dish ready in no time.  And if you think about what you pay for a pound of lean ground beef and a little less than a pound of fresh broccoli, you find yourself with a very inexpensive meal!

This is not an Earth-shattering revolution in cooking.  It's very simple. You can easily make this same recipe using more traditional thinly sliced flank or sirloin steak.  Both are fairly inexpensive cuts of beef.  But the difference is that generally you marinate that in garlic and soy sauce and dredge in flour or cornstarch.  I happen to like this recipe, still fairly simple (to me at least) and more like what you might expect in a restaurant.  The beauty of  my budget version, besides being cheap is it's basically a one-pot meal, it's relatively low calorie if you are using 75% or 80% lean ground beef, and broccoli is a great source of Vitamin C as well as a good source of Vitamin A.

Budget Beef and Broccoli

Ingredients
1 lb Lean Ground Beef
1 generous tablespoon Canola or Vegetable Oil
2 Crowns of Broccoli (about 1/2 lb), chopped into fairly small pieces.
2 Cloves minced/crushed Garlic or 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
Fresh Cracked Pepper (just use as little or as much as you like)

Sauce
1 tablespoon Soy Sauce (reduced sodium is best)
 1/4 cup Water or Beef Broth
2 teaspoons Cornstarch
1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce (optional, but you really should just have a bottle if you do any Asian cooking)

Directions
In a wok or a heavy bottom skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Break off the ground beef in bits, no need to roll them into balls, just pinch off pieces and place on the pan, try not to let them touch. Let them sear for a few minutes, then add fresh garlic or garlic powder, then using a spatula, move things around to turn over the pieces of ground beef.  Add the broccoli and mix it all up.  If you have a lid for your pan, cover it or just grab a cookie sheet and cover it for a bit (like 3-4 minutes) so the broccoli can steam and get crisp/tender. 

In a measuring cup or small bowl, mix the sauce ingredients together.  Uncover the pan, move the beef and broccoli to the outer edges of the pan and pour in the sauce in the middle of the pan, then using your spatula, start mixing everything around.  As the sauce heats and begins to boil, the cornstarch does its magic and creates a thicker, shiny sauce.  Mix thoroughly to coat everything.  If you want it saucier, just pour in another 1/4 cup of broth and mix it around.  If you didn't use broth, just add more water with a another 1/2 teaspoon each of soy sauce and oyster sauce.  Cover the pan for another couple minutes, then turn off the heat and let it rest for a couple more minutes then serve. 

Optional Sauce:  This dish is also excellent with a Japanese twist using teriyaki sauce instead.  And I love this simple homemade teriyaki sauce from Savory Sweet Life. When I do it this way, I add some broth or water with soy and oyster sauces into the pan as mentioned above, then right before the end, I pour in the teriyaki sauce and stir everything together to coat it.