Orange Beef Stir-Fry

12-16 oz top round steak
Zest from 1 orange
1/2 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp beef bullion granules
2 Tbsp oil
4 green onions, cut into 1" pieces
1 clove garlic, minced
5-6 oz spinach
4 oz water chestnuts
Rice

Thinly cut beef into bite sized pieces; set aside. Stir together orange peel, orange juice, cornstarch, soy sauce, sugar, and bullion granules; set aside.

Heat 1 Tbsp of oil over medium-high heat. Add green onions and garlic; cook and stir in hot oil for about a minute and then remove, leaving the oil in the pan. Add remaining Tbsp oil and beef. Cook and stir for 3-4 minutes.

Stir sauce, add to center of pan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Return green onions and garlic. Add spinach and water chestnuts. Stir all ingredients together and continue to cook until heated through. Serve over rice.

Lemon Chicken

I tried this recipe last night after seeing it on my friend Lauren's blog, and she got it from her friends recipe blog, Mmm... Cafe.

2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
1 egg yolk
1 dash pepper
1 Tbsp. soy sauce

3 Tbsp. cornstarch
3 Tbsp. flour

Soak chicken breasts in egg yolk, soy sauce and pepper for at least 30 minutes.

Coat each piece of chicken in a mixture of cornstarch and flour. fry chicken in hot oil. Drain chicken on a plate covered with paper towels.

Lemon Sauce:
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup water

In medium saucepan mix together sugar and corn starch. Then add remaining ingredients. Bring to boil stirring constantly. Cook until thickened.

Of course I changed it up... I'm not capable of following any recipe exactly.

I actually marinated the chicken in the egg & soy sauce for about 4 hours. I don't know that made a big difference, but I was out running errands and wanted it to be ready to cook when I came home.

I only used about 2 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil to brown the chicken. Then I finished baking the pieces in the oven at 350. This way it tasted "fried" but wasn't deep fried.

I also happened to have a couple lemons that I needed to use, so I used fresh lemon juice and threw in the zest of about 1/2 a lemon. And because I like my sauce extra thick, I let it reduce down quite a bit... almost in half.

The lemon sauce is pretty sweet, so we topped it with more soy sauce to give it more of a "sweet & sour" taste.

I also served this with a tropical fruit salad (pineapple, passion fruit, mango, etc.) and cabbage sauteed in a little olive oil and salt.