Asian Tomato Beef Stir Fry - Short cut fast and delicious!


I was racking my brains as to what to make for dinner and the pre cut stir fry at work won.  I needed the meal to be fairly quick. So grabbed some of that, a stir fry sauce that was on sale, some produce items and headed home.  I'm not sure why the tomato-beef stir fry seemed the route to go as my whole life I've never ordered it at a Chinese restaurant.  Which is were commonly saw it on a menu.  Many more traditional recipes were very by scratch but I get home late, have to cook fast and get it on the table.  Here is my shortcut.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1lb beef scallopini and cut into strips or buy pre cut beef for stir fry from your meat department or butcher.
  • 6-7 roma tomatoes.
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 bunches of green onion/scallion
  • 1 medium to large green bell pepper.  
  • Few cloves of garlic sliced or if want to get there quick like me, a heaping spoonful of pre chopped jarred garlic you can get in most any grocery stores these days.  
  • Some Asian stir fry sauce.  I used the Kikkoman Pineapple and Honey one because why not!
  • 1/3 cup of ketchup   (boy was I shocked when saw all the other recipes but traditional American ketchup has a lot of sugar, so why not the honey pineapple stir fry sauce!  Yes this is how my mind works!)
  • Canola, peanut or Mediterranean oil.. any oil that does well at high heat. 
PREP!
  • Cut down your tomatoes, medium onion and bell pepper into semi quarter chunks.  Don't chop.  Just think about when you go to a Chinese restaurant and what the veggies in the dish come out like.  Get your chunks along those type chunk size but totally your call.  
  • Same with the two bunches of green onions.  Slice at a angle in 2 inch strips.  Longer or shorter if you wish.  
  • Sliver your garlic if using fresh or bypass this if using the pre made jar stuff like I did.
  • Mix about 2/3 cup of the stir fry sauce with the heaping spoon of jarred chopped garlic and the ketchup.  This is your stir fry sauce for this dish.  
  • Salt and pepper your beef strips generously and figure out your cooking vessel you are going to do this in as like many of you, I do NOT own a Wok nor a gas stove:(    If you do own a wok or a gas stove, then I'm jealous!
LET'S DO THIS!
  • Sear off your beef on high in a couple tablespoons of your preferred high heat cooking oil.  Only two or you will end up with a lot of beef juice melding in with too much oil and not searing off right.  When all seems seared off and pan is smoking hot.  Move your beef to a side plate.  
  • Add 1 and only one tablespoon of oil and throw in all your veggies except for the tomatoes.  Get your onions, garlic if using fresh and bell peppers started on a sear then add your tomatoes.  The tomatoes will give off liquid so better to get the other veggies off and seared and the tomatoes with the moisture they carry will help it off and when it gets going to looking very seared off add your beef back in.  Mix and then add in your stir fry sauce.  Stir and bit lower heat and serve with rice.
Glad we experimented with this one as is now a fave in the house!  Remember life is too short to eat badly!


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