RECIPE - GF Stir-Fry w/ Beef and Vegetables

Did you know that most soy sauces contain wheat?? Here, read all about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soy_sauce

Soy sauce is made by fermenting soy beans, and with those soy beans can be wheat, grains, plant protein, chemicals, even molasses! Luckily for those that can't eat wheat, one type of Japanese soy sauce, Tamari, contains little or no wheat. If you are gluten free, this is the easiest and most natural kind of soy sauce available.

Here are a few types of Tamari and other wheat-free soy sauces:

San-J Organic Tamari (http://www.san-j.com/product_info.asp?id=3) - Definitely my favorite. Has a nice soy sauce taste, you really can't tell that it's any different. Also comes in a low-sodium variety

La Choy Soy Sauce (http://www.lachoy.com/products/sauces.jsp_) - Not my favorite, but definitely cheaper and more available than San-J products. Try it for yourself, but for me the sauce has an odd, chemically aftertaste.

Kari-Out Company (http://www.kariout.com/gluten.html) - Only sells wholesale products, but they do have a nifty form on their website written in English and Chinese, telling the restaurant that you have an allergy, please don't use wheat...etc etc etc.

There are many other types of organic Tamari sauces I have found (even one from Kikkoman!), but I have not seen any gluten free confirmation relating to them so I am not going to list them.


Here's a recipe (made it for dinner last night!) using the San-J Organic Tamari.

GF Stir-Fry with Beef and Vegetables


Stir-Fry:
1lb steak, sliced very thin
4 cups vegetables, all chopped/sliced to be about the same size (I used broccoli, carrots, celery, mushrooms, and peppers)
2-3 Tbsp vegetable oil
Rice, for serving

Marinade:
1/3 cup San-J Organic Tamari
2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp ginger, sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 Tsp red pepper flakes
1 Tbsp  honey or agave

Directions:

1. Pour all ingredients for the marinade into a Ziploc bag
2. Slice the beef very thin, add to the bag with the marinade
3. Roll the beef around in the bag, making sure marinade covers all pieces. Remove air from the bag and seal. Let marinade for about 15-20 minutes.
4. Cook the vegetables first! Get your skillet or wok extremely hot, then add about 1 Tbsp vegetable oil. Add vegetables (in 2 batches if necessary) and cook for a few minutes. You should cook vegetables until they are about half to 2/3 of the way cooked.
5. Remove vegetables. Wipe out pan and add an additional 1 Tbsp vegetable oil.
6. Cook the beef. When removing the beef from the marinade, try to shake off as much of the marinade as possible. Cook the beef in batches, be sure not to overcrowd the pan or else the beef will boil and will not brown. Cook for (literally) not more than 1 minute per side.
7. Throw all the cooked vegetables and beef back into your pan, and add remaining marinade and an additional few splashes of soy sauce. Cook for a minute or two until everything is heated up again. Serve with rice.