Mongolian-style beef lettuce wraps...

This is one of my FAVORITE things to make. Honestly, if you don’t like beef (I try to only eat it every other week) chicken and salmon both work very well with this recipe too! And if you wanna be creative and add diff veggies, just sauté them separately. I’ve tried adding mushrooms, carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, red bell peppers and green beans. Orrrrr just make it as a stir fry instead of lettuce wraps. I have never been disappointed because it’s all about the sauce! Click "read more" for the full recipe...

"Healthy" Mongolian Beef Recipe (Adapted from Weight Watchers and Pf Changs)

Ingredients:
–Meat: beef flank/skirt steak trimmed AND tenderized OR cheeken OR salmon OR shrimp!
–Cornstarch
–2 to 3 cloves of garlic
–Fresh ginger (or sushi ginger works jussssst fine)
–Brown sugar (I use the Splenda brown sugar blend)
–Low-sodium soy sauce
–Jasmine white rice (Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice cooks in 90 seconds)
–Lettuce leaves, trimmed and washed (for the wraps)
–Green onion and other assorted vegets
–Sprouts
–Canola oil

Steps:
1) Slice your meat into ¼-inch to ½-inch thick chunks, depending on how big you’d like them. Trim off any excess fat. Toss with the corn starch in a separate bowl until evenly covered. Set aside. This is where you would start boiling water for your rice if you don’t have the 90-second rice or dice and saute your vegs. Side note: make sure the meat is tender or else it gets too chewy. If it’s not tender enough make your chunks smaller).
2) Turn your pan on medium heat, add the canola oil when ready.
3) Mince garlic cloves and slice ginger into very small bits. When pan is ready, “season” the pan with garlic and ginger (I’m not sure the best way to describe that – just put the garlic and ginger in the pan until it starts to smell pretty, which usually takes about 30 seconds or so).
4) Add your meat chunks to the pan. They will cook quickly so make sure you turn them often.
5) While your meat is cooking, get the sauce ready (this is my fav stuff!) In a measuring cup, mix ¼ cup water with ¼ cup of the soy sauce and ¼ cup of the brown sugar (if that seems like too much sugar, just add spoonfuls until you get the right consistency). Stir well. When the meat is mostly browned, pour the sauce in with the meat.
6) Simmer meat with the sauce until it starts to thicken. Chop and add your green onions if you wanna make it look pretty. It only needs a couple minutes here.
7) Meanwhile, prepare your rice in the microwave (if that’s how you’re doing it) and your lettuce leaves. Once the rice is ready your Mongolian beef slash chicken slash salmon slash shrimp is pretty much ready to serve! Serve with rice and/or on the lettuce leaves, top off with the sprouts!

It's tasty, tasty! Just a couple side notes:
–I know to be "healthy" they say go with brown rice but I think Jasmine rice or any white rice tastes better with this meal.
–Also, fresh ginger is sometimes difficult so I go with the sushi ginger. Just rinse it first if you use it. If you go with fresh ginger, I recommend using a cheese grater to prepare it. And if you have neither, just add some ground ginger powder once you have your meat cooking with the sauce.
–If you prefer sweet AND savory, add bell peppers and cinnamon. So you have sugar, spice, and everything nice!
–Lastly, watch out for the brown-sugar stickiness!

FUN health fact: Ginger root is a natural vasodilator. It helps with migraines, upset stomachs and is often added to tea to help treat the common cold. However, some people say it is too sharp and intolerable... so try it in small doses if you're unsure. I LOVE adding garlic mixed with ginger to all of my Asian dishes (you can expect to see more ginger added to my recipes in the future!)