The Food Matters Project: Seared Bean Sprouts with Beef and Sesame Orange Sauce

photos by scott haydon

Hi everyone! I love love love that the Food Matters Project gives me a culinary challenge every single week. This week's recipe (Seared Bean Sprouts with Beef and Sesame Orange Sauce) was hosted by Dominica and you can see her take here.

I've never really spent much time thinking about, preparing, or eating bean sprouts and I was a little nervous when I bought them at the store the other day. I could see eating them raw in a salad but I was pretty hesitant about what would happen to them in a stirfry. I should have known that Mark Bittman would steer us in a solid direction. This dish was very tasty.



The only changes I made to the original recipe was in adding some broccoli and using coconut aminos instead of soy sauce. I prepared a blend of jasmine and wild rice to go with the dish. This was a solid dinner recipe and when I ate the leftovers at work the next day they were still very good. My favorite thing about the recipe was the orange juice and zest. I thought it was a refreshing complement to the the other flavors.

adapted from The Food Matters Cookbook

2 TBS sesame seeds
3 TBS olive oil
8 ounces sirloin, sliced thin
salt and pepper
1 package bean sprouts
1 bunch green onions, chopped
3 TBS coconut aminos
2 oranges, zested and juiced
1 TBS honey

Toast sesame seeds in a dry pan until they begin to brown, medium/low for about 4 minutes. Set aside.

Heat stirfry pan (wok) to medium high and add 1 TBS olive oil and steak. Season with salt and pepper, sear both sides, and remove from pan.

Add remaining olive oil, bean sprouts, white/light green parts of green onions and broccoli to pan. Stir frequently until slightly tender, 3 minutes or so. Add beef, coconut aminos, orange juice and zest, honey. Toss and warm through, about 3 minutes more.

Garnish with green onions and toasted sesame seeds.

 Serve with rice!