This orange beef and broccoli is one of our family's very favorite meals, there are rarely any leftovers. If there are any by some miracle, then they're gone before I wake up the next morning. (If you have teenagers or young adults in your home like we do, you know what I mean–they have “second dinner” every night after Kent and I are in bed. This took some getting used to as our kids got older, but that's when you learn to appreciate your very peaceful mornings!)

Try this orange beef and broccoli and let me know what you think!

Print Recipe

Orange Beef and Broccoli (or Chicken)

Not only is this delicious with beef or chicken (see more photos below the recipe), you can also just throw in whatever vegetables you have in your fridge!

Servings: 6 people

Ingredients

Rice (you could substitute this rice for cauliflower rice for a lower-carb meal):

3 cups Basmati rice
4.5 cups chicken or beef broth
2 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon sea salt

Meat:

2-3 # flank steak or boneless chicken (or more if you'd like leftovers), cut into bite-sized pieces-- if you don't have a good source for local, pastured, safe meat, here's where we will sometimes buy our healthy meat online.
1 cup organic corn starch or arrowroot powder
1 2# tub beef tallow or lard for frying <-- I get mine there. You could also use avocado oil.

Veggies (just use whatever you have):

3-4 organic peppers, any color you'd like-- cleaned and sliced
1 bunch broccoli-- cleaned and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 handful organic shredded carrots
1/2 head cabbage, sliced
1 bunch green onions, cleaned & sliced-- these are for the top when serving

Sauce:

2 inches fresh ginger, peeled and diced
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, diced
1 organic onion, chopped
2 organic oranges, zested, plus the juice
2 cups organic orange juice
6 Tablespoons fermented soy sauce
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
4 Tablespoons organic corn starch or arrowroot powder
5 Tablespoons honey
1/8 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

Rice:

Cook rice according to package directions. (Just mix ingredients together in a saucepan, bring to a boil stirring often so it doesn't stick. Move to a smaller burner, turn on low, cover and cook for 20 minutes, then shut the burner off, keep covered, and let set until it's time to eat.)

Meat:

Put meat in a large baggie, add the egg and squish it all around good throughout the meat. Sprinkle in the cornstarch or arrowroot, seal the bag, then shake it all around for a few minutes until each piece is covered in the powder.
Melt tallow or lard in a large pan to 375*. I love my favorite pan for this! In 3-4 batches, drop the pieces of meat into the pan, pulling any pieces apart that stuck to each other a bit, and drop them away from each other in the pan. Move the pieces around a little, then let cook for a couple of minutes, until they're a bit crispy on the outside.
Use a slotted spoon to lift the pieces of meat out and put them on a rack that's sitting on a cookie sheet. Shake some sea salt on top, then keep warm in your oven on low heat while you work on the next batch and the other ingredients.

Veggies:

Pour most of the oil from the pan into a glass or stainless bowl (never put anything hot in plastic), reserving enough to just cover the bottom of the pan. Add the veggies in to cook in batches until everything is hot and cooked just 'til crisp-tender. When one batch is done, put it into a glass or stainless bowl and cook the next batch, set aside.

Sauce:

Mix cornstarch or arrowroot, garlic powder, ginger powder, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, orange zest and orange juice in a bowl with a whisk until well combined, then set aside just while you do the next step...
Add some oil back into the pan, 3-4 Tablespoons or so, and saute onion, ginger and garlic for a few minutes 'til fragrant and starting to soften.
Pour OJ mixture into the pan, whisking as it gets thick.