Cheater Korean Beef

This is one of those recipes that makes you wonder how something with so few ingredients (and pantry staples at that) can come together into something downright magical.

Amy's post about this Cheater Korean Beef recipe made it sound like one of the best things she's ever made so, of course, I was intrigued. I trust her judgement when it comes to food, and after a quick glance at the ingredient list I figured it would make a quick and easy weeknight meal.

What I wasn't expecting was for it to be so delicious I was fighting my 5-year-old for a second helping. And wishing my husband had other dinner plans that night. Seriously, this is so utterly amazing, there are no words. And it's ridiculously easy. So easy that said 5-year-old could probably cook it herself. You know, if she was allowed to use the stove.

Make this one soon. You won't be sorry.

Cheater Korean Beef
As seen on Very Culinary
Serves 2 (so double it or make a side dish if you want leftovers)

1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 pound lean ground beef
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/4 - 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (adjust to your spice preference)
salt and pepper
3 scallions, chopped
toasted sesame seeds

Heat the sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Brown the beef until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Toss in the garlic and cook for another minute. Drain off all the fat*.

Stir in the brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and chili garlic sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 1-2 more minutes to blend the flavors. Toss in the scallions.

Serve over hot rice and sprinkle with a few sesame seeds.

*Quick tip: An easy way to drain off the fat is to use paper towels. Turn off the heat, then move all the beef to one side of the skillet. Tilt the pan the other way so all the oil runs to the other side, away from the beef. Use balled up paper towels to soak up the excess oil. Leave a little oil in the pan (you want some moisture). Then simply throw the paper towels in the trash.

Hoisin Pork with Rice Noodles

A few weeks ago we restocked our freezer with frozen pizza dough and realized something very important - our freezer isn't very big. We have one of those French-door, freezer-on-the-bottom contraptions and there just isn't that much freezer space down there. I also tend to horde things like half-eaten loaves of bread, bananas and single servings of pasta sauce with the very good intention of using them up while really all I'm doing is taking up valuable freezer space that could be used for banana chocolate chip muffins, egg bake or breakfast burritos.

SP told me it was time to do a purge. He challenged me to only cook from the freezer until it became more manageable. I like a good challenge so off I went, searching through the freezer bags to see just what was in there that I could use to feed my family for the week. I found two lonely pork chops and immediately thought of this recipe for Hoisin Pork with Rice Noodles.

The original recipe calls for thinly sliced pork tenderloin but I just thinly sliced the chops and it worked out perfectly. This was such a simple dish I wasn't sure if we'd like it but we all loved it. Baby Girl was especially fond of it - the kid loves carrots, bless her - and any pasta dish is guaranteed to be a winner, even if they're rice noodles.

Hoisin Pork with Rice Noodles
As seen on So Tasty, So Yummy

1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon fish sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
juice of half a lime
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon - 1 tablespoon Sriracha, to taste
1 lb pork tenderloin, cut into thin strips
10 oz dry rice noodles
2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 tablespoons minced cilantro

In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, water, oil, sugar, fish sauce, vinegar, hoisin, lime juice, garlic and Sriracha. Add pork and turn to coat pork pieces; cover and allow to marinate overnight in the fridge.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the pork and the marinade. Cook until the pork until cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the noodles per the package instructions. Drain and toss the cooked noodles, carrots and cilantro with the cooked pork and sauce. Serve immediately.

Pork Chops with Pineapple Fried Rice

My friend Melissa has been raving about these Pork Chops with Pineapple Fried Rice since the first time she made them. I was hemming and hawing about making them (it's been a long time since I last cooked pork chops) but I finally bit the bullet and I'm so glad I did.

Sadly, I couldn't find bone-in pork chops in my supermarket. They didn't even have them in the meat case. I'm not sure why - they had bone-in chicken breasts - but no bone-in pork chops. I ended up pounding the boneless chops out to an even thickness and just cooked them for less time. The key to fried rice is to cook the rice the night before. Every other time I've tried to make the rice the same day it clumps together and is totally unappealing. This was perfect - each grain stayed separate. Don't skip that step. It takes some planning ahead but it's well worth it.

This was a great dish and the leftovers were even better the next day.

Pork Chops with Pineapple Fried Rice
Very slightly modified from Alosha's Kitchen, who adapted it from Pioneer Woman

1 large can pineapple chunks, drained
4 cups white rice, cooked the previous day and chilled overnight (from 1 1/3 cups dry)
4 boneless pork chops, about 1 1/2" thick
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil, divided
1 large sweet onion, sliced
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs, beaten
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin
1 1/3 cups frozen peas
2 tablespoons soy sauce (additional)

Saute the pineapple chunks over high heat in a non-stick or cast iron skillet until they start to brown. Set aside.

In the meantime, heat 1/2 tablespoon oil over medium high heat in a large deep skillet. Add the pork chops to the pan. Sear on both sides until they're golden brown. Add the sliced onions and work them into the spaces between the chops. Let them cook for about 5 minutes.

When the onions are soft, add the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey, and chili garlic sauce. Stir the sauce around, and let it cook for another 5 minutes, until the pork chops are completely cooked and the sauce is thicker. Remove the pork chops to a bowl, then let the sauce simmer for another 30 to 45 seconds. Pour the sauce over the pork chops, then cover the bowl tightly with aluminum foil. Set aside.

Add the other 1/2 tablespoon oil to the same pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper and saut� for 2 minutes, until just soft. Add the garlic and stir it around, then add the eggs and immediately stir them to scramble. Add the peas and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Add the cooked rice then gently stir in the cooked pineapple chunks. Mix everything together.

To serve, pile some of the rice on a plate, then top with a pork chop and onions. Drizzle a little bit of sauce over the top.

Sweet and Spicy Dipping Sauce

I'd asked SP to buy frozen egg rolls to serve alongside the Crispy Tofu with Garlic and Broccoli, but that night I forgot to serve them. Oops. Luckily I was making Spicy Garlic and Ginger Chicken with Green Beans the following week. I like dipping my egg roll into duck sauce but I can't justify buying a big jar of it and we haven't ordered takeout Chinese in forever so I didn't have any leftover packets hanging around. A quick Google search led me to this Sweet and Spicy Dipping Sauce on AllRecipes.

What a great sauce and so simple to make. It went perfectly with the shrimp and veggie egg rolls, which were surprisingly delicious (gotta love Wegmans).

Sweet and Spicy Dipping Sauce
As seen on AllRecipes.com
Servings: 2

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (Sriracha)

Stir the vinegar and sugar together in a small saucepan over medium heat until the sugar dissolves completely, 7 to 10 minutes; add the salt, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir the chili garlic sauce into the mixture. Allow to cool before serving.

Soy Cilantro Roasted Potatoes

When Mary Ellen made these Soy Cilantro Roasted Potatoes for a recent recipe swap I immediately saved them to try when the temps dropped. Like Mary Ellen, I was intrigued by the use of soy sauce with potatoes and couldn't wait to see how they'd turn out.

The smell of these roasting was intoxicating. I served these with a roast chicken and they were delicious. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, with a little bit of a glaze from the reduced soy sauce.

Soy-Cilantro Roasted Potatoes
From The Cookaholic Wife, as seen on Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations

5 large red potatoes
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
Several shakes of garlic powder
Salt and pepper
Cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 450.

Rinse off the potatoes and cut into small wedges. Transfer the potatoes into a large bowl. Add the soy sauce, oil, cilantro, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. Toss well to coat. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray. Put the potatoes into the baking dish.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the potatoes are soft.

Sweet and Spicy Tofu with Green Beans

Once I started cooking with tofu I asked the ladies on my cooking board for some recipe recommendations. My friend Mary Ellen listed this Sweet and Spicy Tofu with Green Beans as one of her favorites.

I had a few mishaps making this, mainly mistaking the oyster sauce in the fridge for hoisin sauce. No biggie, I just used the oyster sauce. Stir fries are so forgiving. I also ran out of sherry, so I used rice wine vinegar to make up the difference. I was running late getting dinner on the table and the sauce was taking forever to thicken, so I made a slurry with cornstarch and some water and mixed that in to thicken the sauce quickly. I love cornstarch in stir fries - it makes the sauce so velvety and sooth.


I doubled the recipe so we'd have leftovers for lunch. And speaking of leftovers, I had half an avocado in the fridge from earlier in the week. I've seen a few Asian dishes with avocado so I thought I'd dice it up and throw it in with my leftovers. All I can say is WOW. I added an avocado to the ingredient list as optional but I HIGHLY recommend adding it in if you love avocado. Not only did it help temper the spice from the sriracha, the creamy texture was a great compliment to the crispy green beans and water chestnuts.

I'm really loving cooking with tofu and this dish was no exception. A delicious, spicy sauce and healthy to boot. Win-win!

Sweet and Spicy Tofu with Green Beans
As seen on Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations

1 block of extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons hoisin (or oyster sauce)
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 tablespoons dry cooking sherry (or rice wine vinegar)
2 teaspoons chili garlic paste (sriracha)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 small onion, sliced
1/2 can water chestnuts, sliced
1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
1/2 avocado, diced (optional)

Heat olive oil and sesame oil in a large saute pan or wok. Add tofu; cook until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels.

Add garlic and onions to the wok, saute 1-2 minutes. Add water chestnuts and green beans, saute 1-2 minutes.

Mix hoisin, brown sugar, soy sauce, sherry, chili garlic paste, and broth. Add to the pan and bring to a simmer. Return tofu to the pan; let cook a few minutes. Reduce heat and add the cornstarch mixed with water. Let simmer to thicken.

Serve over rice or noodles topped with diced avocado, if desired.

Recipe Swap - Chili Lime Tofu with Rice and Spinach

I have a food confession. Until I made this recipe I had never cooked tofu. I'd eaten it a handful of times, mainly when my vegetarian aunt visits and we get Chinese food to share. I was missing out.

I've mentioned several times that I'm trying to cook healthier meals, but lately we've been tossing around the idea of going mostly vegetarian. We won't cut out all meat, but we've decided to make a concerted effort to eat meat less often, maybe twice a week. This goes for everything from red meat to chicken.

Enter the humble tofu. All I really know about tofu is that it tastes like whatever you cook it in. I've had my eye on this Chili Lime Tofu with Rice and Spinach for awhile now, so when it was submitted for the last recipe swap I knew I had to make it. As luck would have it, I was given Stefanie's blog for this swap and the stars aligned. Stefanie really enjoyed the dish and Heather, the blogger that gave the recipe to Stefanie, loves it so much so that she puts it on her weekly menu every other week. That's a serious recommendation, so I figured what better recipe to try for my first tofu experience.


We loved this. Absolutely loved it. SP said if this is the kind of stuff he needs to be eating to stay healthy it wouldn't be as hard as he thought. The flavors from the sauce were outstanding. I doubled the sauce and I'm glad I did. There wouldn't have been nearly enough otherwise. The crispy tofu was delicious, although we decided I needed to cut the slices thicker. The thinner pieces were too chewy while the thicker ones were just right.

I also had a minor mishap with the tofu due to my own ignorance of how to prepare it. I started slicing the tofu, marveling at the amount of water that was coming out of the brick and wondering how it was going to get crispy in the skillet. Then I reread the directions and realized I needed to press and drain it. A quick Google search led me to instructions. I've added the steps to the ingredient list below for other tofu novices.

Chili Lime Tofu with Rice and Spinach
As seen on Kickin It in the Kitch, originally from Hezzi-D�s Books and Cooks

1 cup jasmine, basmati or white rice
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 limes
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons garlic chili pepper sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 package extra-firm tofu
2 cups fresh spinach
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced

In a medium sized saucepan combine the rice, water, salt, zest of 1 lime, and nutmeg. Cook according to the package directions.

In a small bowl combine the sugar, soy sauce, garlic chili pepper sauce, garlic cloves, and juice of both limes. Mix well and set aside.

Unwrap the tofu. Place on a plate lined with 4 paper towels. Cover with 4 more paper towels and weigh down with a plate or skillet topped with heavy cans. Allow to press and drain for 30 minutes - 1 hour. Once drained, slice the tofu into 4 slices lengthwise. Cut each rectangle in half then each square into two triangles. Spray a skillet with cooking spray and cook the tofu for 10 minutes on each side or until it is golden brown.

Lower the heat and pour the chili lime sauce over top of the tofu. The sauce will bubble up, reduce, and form a glaze. Watch carefully so the glaze doesn't become too thick. Remove from heat once the sauce is at your desired consistency.

In a medium pan saut� the spinach, sesame oil, and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes or until the spinach is wilted but still green. Serve the rice topped with spinach with the tofu on top.

Recipe Swap: Spicy Thai Noodles

The theme for this recipe swap is Noodles. The recipe could be any cuisine as long as it included noodles. I was excited when I got Nichole's recipe for Spicy Thai Noodles. I'm trying to incorporate more veggies into my diet and these noodles are the perfect canvas for any veggies you need to use up.

I planned this meal for when SP was going to be out, since it doesn't include meat and I didn't want to add any, so I cut it in half. It made two perfect portions, but I did think the lack of meat made it less filling. Some egg rolls or wontons would go great with these noodles.


I added sliced onion to the veggies and subbed Sriracha for the red pepper flakes since I thought the garlic in the sauce would go well. I also realized as I was getting ready to cook that I didn't have any peanuts in the house. We think Baby Girl might have a peanut allergy so even though I keep peanut butter on hand I don't buy peanuts. The crunch and flavor would go really well, so don't leave them out.

Spicy Thai Noodles
Slightly Modified from The Cookaholic Wife

1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
10-12 asparagus spears, stems removed
1/2 cup matchstick carrots
1/2 onion, sliced
1/4 cup peanuts
1/2 lb thin spaghetti
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2-1 teaspoon Sriracha
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
Green onions, for garnish

Heat the sesame oil and vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the mushrooms, asparagus, carrots, onions and peanuts. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the honey and soy sauce then add the Sriracha.

When the noodles are done, add them to the bowl with the honey and soy sauce and toss to coat. Add the vegetables to the bowl and toss to coat. Serve in bowls garnished with toasted sesame seeds and green onions.