Mustard & Ketchup Stir-fry, Honey & Sesame Slaw

I recently spent an entire day laying on the couch, in day old sweatpants and t-shirt, sporting this new look called bed head, eating pop-tarts and fruit snacks, watching Rachael Ray reruns. On my way home from work today, I frantically called my husband and coerced him into searching her website for a recipe for stir fry that uses ketchup and mustard, and a slaw with honey and sesame seeds. The recipe was promptly emailed to my Droid and I walked through the grocery store, juggling the shopping list on my phone with produce bags and of course the infamous grocery store cart with the wobbly wheel. What? You've shopped with that cart before too? The shopping trip was pretty quick and painless overall since I had most of these ingredients in my fridge at home. My husband helped me prep everything. Without his help it would have taken well over 30 minutes to prepare this meal.

Some suggestions for next time: The ranch-flavored mashed potatoes were good, but I recommend adding more buttermilk than the recipe calls for. I also had a hard time fitting all the cabbage into the stir-fry pans. Although it condensed down at the end of the cooking time, next time I will either need larger frying pans or less cabbage overall.

I liked the meal, and it was so unique for me. I would have never tried stir-fry with mashed potatoes before. Although I was hesitant to cook with the outlandish ingredients that didn't seem to even fit into the same sentence let alone a meal, it turned out to be quite delicious.

-Sarah

Warm Sesame Slaw Salad

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray, 2008

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable, peanut or canola oil
• 1 small head red cabbage, shredded
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions

Heat the oil in large skillet over high heat. Stir-fry the cabbage 5 minutes then season with salt and pepper, to taste, and add vinegar and honey, sesame seeds and oil. Serve warm.

Sweet n Sour Sirloin Stir-Fry with Ranch Mashed Potatoes

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray, 2008

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pound piece sirloin, 1-inch thick
• 2 pounds Idaho potatoes, peeled and cubed
• Salt
• 3 tablespoons vegetable, peanut or canola oil
• 2 large red bell peppers, seeded and sliced
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1 bunch scallions, cut into 2 to 3-inch pieces on bias, greens and whites
• 2 cups shelled frozen edamame
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup yellow mustard
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• Freshly ground black pepper
• A few dashes hot sauce
• Handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• Handful fresh dill, chopped
• Handful fresh chives, chopped

Directions

Pop the meat in the freezer for a few minutes to stiffen it up for slicing.

Place potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil. Salt the water and cook the potatoes until tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain.

Halve the steak lengthwise then very thinly slice the meat. Heat the oil in a very large skillet over high heat. When oil wafts smoke and ripples, add the meat and stir-fry until caramelized 3 minutes. Add peppers and stir-fry 2 minutes then add in scallions and edamame for 2 minutes more. Stir together the sugar, soy, mustard and ketchup and pour over stir-fry the last minute of cooking. Season, to taste, if necessary.

Mash potatoes with buttermilk, salt and pepper, hot sauce, parsley, dill, chives, adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve with stir-fry on top!