Beef with Snow Peas

(photo courtesy of thepioneerwoman.com)

The Pioneer Woman strikes again! I swear, everything of hers that I try I love. And this dish is no exception. Great thing about this one though, no butter OR heavy cream? What? Could it be true? Pioneer Woman makes a dish slightly healthy? Let's be honest, there still is a lot of sodium but oh well, it's too delicious to care.

My one suggestion: Do NOT use cooking Sherry for this dish and do NOT use normal soy sauce. Use regular Sherry and low sodium soy sauce. The first time I made this I didn't have sherry so I used cooking sherry but cooking sherry has added sodium and this dish was SO salty I could barely eat it. There is enough salt in the ½ low sodium soy sauce you'll use, don't add any extra. Trust me on this one.

Ingredients
- 1½ pound Flank Steak, trimmed of fat and sliced very thin against the grain
- ½ cups Low Sodium Soy Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons Sherry
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 1 Tablespoon Minced Fresh Ginger (I grate mine)
- 8 ounces, weight Fresh Snow Peas, ends trimmed
- 5 whole Scallions, cut into half-inch pieces on the diagonal
- 3 Tablespoons Peanut Or Olive Oil
- Crushed Red Pepper, for sprinkling
- Jasmine Or Long Grain Rice, cooked according to package

Preparation

1. In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, cornstarch, and ginger. Add sliced meat to bowl and toss with hands. Set aside.

2. Heat oil in a heavy skillet, iron is best, (I use nonstick) or wok over high heat. Add snow peas and stir for 45 seconds. Remove to a separate plate. Set aside.

3. Allow pan to get very hot again. With tongs, add half the meat mixture, leaving most of the marinade still in the bowl. Add half the scallions. Spread out meat as you add it to pan, but do not stir for a good minute. (You want the meat to get as brown as possible in as short amount a time as possible).Turn meat to the other side and cook until done. Remove to a clean plate.

4. Repeat with other half of meat, allowing pan to get very hot again first. After turning it, add the first plateful of meat, the rest of the marinade, and the snow peas. Stir over high heat for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Mixture will thicken as it sits.

5. Serve immediately over rice. Sprinkle crushed red pepper over the top to give it some spice.