Mongolian Beef- Lighter Version

Recently the hubs and I got to go to P.F. Chang's for the first time.  We sat on the lovely heated patio on the Las Vegas strip next to the heater that refused to light in 50 degree weather.  :-/  Thankfully, the food and the company were enjoyable.

We loved the Mongolian Beef we had that night- a little sweet and a little salty with notes of ginger and garlic.  Even the hubs liked it and he's not a big fan of Asian food.  Sooo... of course I had to try and find a recipe for it since we live nowhere near a P.F. Changs.  Pinterest quickly led me to this recipe at Pink Bites.   The picture, instructions and description at Pink Bites are much better so definitely check it out as well as the many vegetarian recipes posted there.

The original recipe called for flank steak, but it's not always easy to find it around here so I used a thinly sliced top sirloin with visible fat removed.  It worked out great and yielded beautiful, thin strips of beef.  To lighten it up a little, I used olive oil cooking spray and Splenda's brown sugar blend.  The broccoli is optional, but I wanted to add more bulk to it without adding many more calories.  You could keep it even lighter by serving over spaghetti squash instead of rice!

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Recipe
Adapted from: Pink Bites

1 lb of flank steak, thinly sliced crosswise (I used a thin cut of top sirloin.)
1/4 cup of cornstarch
2-3 teaspoons of canola oil or cooking spray
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger (about 1/2 inch piece)
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic (about 2 -3 large cloves)
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1/4 cup Splenda brown sugar blend or 1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes
1 head steamed broccoli, florets only
3 large green onions, sliced crosswise into thirds (I prefer diced onions.)

1.  In a small heat proof bowl combine water, soy sauce, brown sugar and red pepper flakes.
2.  In another bowl toss cornstarch with steak and let it sit for 10 minutes or so.
3.  Heat half of canola oil in a wok over medium heat.  (I just used a big frying pan and real olive oil cooking spray.)  Add ginger and garlic and saute for about 30 seconds and then pour in soy mixture.  Bring to a boil and allow to cook 2-3 minutes.  Pour back into bowl.
4.  Add the rest of the oil to the empty wok/skillet or spray with cooking more spray and brown the beef over medium-high heat.  Once the meat is browned pour the sauce back into the wok/skillet.  Continue to cook until the sauce is thickened to your liking.  I like it thick so I cooked it for several minutes.  Add onions and broccoli at the end so they will still be a little crunchy. Serve with rice.

Nutritional mumbo jumbo: Calories: 345  Fat: 11.5  Sat. Fat: 3.9  Fiber: 1.7  Protein:35.7   Weight Watchers Points +: 8 (without rice)