Dinner Date

I wanted to make a special dinner for my dad - the harshest critic - tonight and it proved to be quite successful. When he goes back for thirds, you know it's a win. Although the marinade called for quite a few ingredients, once that was out of the way, the whole dish was finished and ready to serve in just 20-30 minutes. I call it "Em's Spicy Orange Zest Beef" served over brown rice with a side of green beans. Oh and the best part is...it is in fact, a low-calorie recipe. :)

First you want to get all of your ingredients together. You can adjust these ingredients depending on how much marinade you want left over for your rice or whatever side dish you have. I doubled the amount of each ingredient and it turned out to be perfect for 4 servings.

* 1 1/2lbs of beef tenderloin filet mignon cut into 1/2 strips
* 1/4 cup of orange juice
* 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
* 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
* 1 tablespoon of roasted red chile paste
* 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
* 2 cloves of garlic, minced
* 1/4 cup of water
* 1 teaspoon of corn starch
* 2 tablespoons of grated orange zest
* 1 bunch of green onions, sliced- white parts and tops separated

First you'll need to plan ahead as to when you'll want to chow down since you'll need to soak the beef in the marinade for two hours. SO to start your marinade you'll need to combine the beef, orange juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, roasted red chili paste, brown sugar, and garlic in a large bowl. Once you do that, put the large bowl in the refrigerator for two hours. Read a book...do laundry...or dance around in your kitchen like a crazy person to some tunes as you wait.

Once the two-hour mark hits, strain the beef in a colander and set over a large bowl, allowing the beef to drain thoroughly for about 5 minutes and reserve the marinade.

Then, stir the water and cornstarch into the bowl of marinade. Whisk until cornstarch is dissolved and set it aside.

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and place over high heat. Cook beef for 1 minute without stirring; cook and stir for an additional minute. Stir in light parts of green onion and orange zest; cook for 30 seconds.

Stir in marinade and green onion tops; cook and stir until beef is no longer pink inside and sauce is reduced and thick, for about 5 minutes.

 Once your side dishes are ready and the meat is cooked all the way through...Bon appéti!