"What makes me feel alive and connected to God's voice and spirit in this world is creating opportunities for the people I love to rest and connect and be fed at my table."
She might as well have been defining Annie Warner. Nailed it.
And for this reason, I'm channeling my inner Shuana Niequist tonight and writing my own chapter.
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It was a normal day like all the others, just a few months after we had gotten married. I spent the day in front of a computer screen and Josh spent it out on the baseball field. But when I got home around 5pm, I got that urge to do something special for the hubster. I always operate on the thinking that love = food, so I decided to make sesame beef for dinner. I turned on the fireplace, pushed our coffee table a little closer and snuggled two chairs up beside it, lit some candles, added plates and champagne glasses, turned on some Brian McKnight. Josh came home an hour later to his newlywed-wife with dinner-plated and sparkling cider poured... Just one out of a hundred times we've eaten sesame beef. Did I also mention Josh made sesame beef for me for our second Valentine's Day together? It's one of those easy, can-eat-it-every-night meals, but also one of those meals that can be souped-up and made fancy for company or special-occasions.
It goes without saying that sesame beef is one of our favorite go-to meals. Josh will waver between sesame beef and poppyseed chicken as his ultimate favorite, but I personally think sesame beef takes the crown, rules the whole palace, and makes everyone its servant.
It has morphed over the years too. My mom always made it with sesame seeds on top (hence the name), served with buttered potatoes, steamed green beans, and a green salad. Josh and I have adopted a more Asian style, serving it without the sesame seeds and on a bed of brown rice. We often steam up some veggies to add to it - broccoli, green beans, water chestnuts, peppers. And the very best thing about sesame beef is that it can be made ahead of time. Often I buy a package or two of pre-cut stir fry beef and throw it in the marinade as soon as I get home from the grocery store. Then I pop it right in the freezer! Then, on a weeknight, I take it out of the freezer to defrost, cook up some rice, and brown the meat in the pan. Walah! Tastes like I slaved over it all day.
So, friends, here is the recipe. May you eat it with your hubby around candlelight dinners, on Valentine's Day, and every other day of the week.Sesame Beef
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oil
1/4 tsp pepper
2 garlic gloves
3 green onions
1 lb. beef
Dump all the meat and marinade in a frying pan and brown on medium-heat. To plate, throw meat over brown rice, allowing some of the juices to flavor the rice. Add veggies too, if desired!
Notes: When marinading, I throw it all in a ziploc bag. I like to have it marinade at least a half hour if you are in a hurry; all day is better; all week in the freezer works too! I buy the stir-fry cut beef from Winco. And I hold off on the green onions when I know I'm going to be freezing it. They get a little funky in the freezer. (Oh and the original recipe is from a Betty Crocker cookbook. Thanks, Betty!)
Guess what's for dinner tonight?
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