Teriyaki!

Have I mentioned how wonderful I find 2-pot cooking with 2 ingredients on the menu? Talk about SIMPLE!

Teriyaki is a wonderful flavor, and it's easily done without all the sugar and additives you may read on a bottle of commercial stuff. I whipped this sauce up in about one minute, with a few more minutes of cooking to reduce it to a saucy consistency.

This sauce is super with chicken, fish,shrimp, or beef! Today I had chicken on the menu for lunch, so this is how it turned out, served on a bed of steamed chard:

Good as Yen Lui's, eh?

TERIYAKI

Pour 1/3 c. water into small fry pan. Add about 1/8 tsp. EACH of garlic powder, onion powder, dry ginger, chili powder, and 1-2 T. of low sodium soy sauce (I prefer Tamari, which can be found gluten-free). A good alternative to soy sauce is Bragg's Liquid Aminos.

Bring to boil, stir in 4 oz. raw chicken breast cut into 1/2" pieces or less. Stir a bit while the chicken cooks, about 2 min. Remove chicken to serving bowl, reserving sauce in pan. Lower heat a tad, and continue to simmer sauce about 2-3 minutes more, until reduced and thicker.

Remove pan from heat, THEN stir in 1/2 packet (your taste) of SweetLeaf plain stevia powder.
Never add stevia while cooking, it will get bitter. Play with the seasonings in this sauce; sometimes I add Chinese 5-Spice powder instead of the garlic and onion powders.

My preferred soy sauce (which does have a small amount of alcohol for preservation):

Add the chicken back to sauce and stir briefly to reheat. Pour over steamed greens.

A dish fit for the Emperor! A nice accompaniment: 1/2 c. cold apple sauce (my raw apple sauce recipe will be posted later).

A NOTE on greens: when I find my system "backing up" for more than a day or two, rather than resort to any sort of laxative I have a big serving of steamed leafy greens - preferably CHARD or KALE! Loaded with fiber and other good things, these natural brooms efficiently help sweep things clean.

Braised Beef Tips with Sauteed Caraway Cabbage and Apple

Oops. What happened to simple? The fancy-schmancy title makes it sound hard, but it is still a really simple prep, with just the basic three items for the meal: 1 protein, 1 veg, 1 fruit!

A beautiful dish, and VERY filling.

The 6" fry pan is such a great tool for this mini-gourmet dishes. Starting with 1/3 c. water, bring to a boil with a 1/2 tsp. Mrs. Dash seasoning. Add 4 oz. raw measure beef sirloin tip steak thinly sliced. Moving the meat around, cook until pink barely shows. Remove meat to dish, reserving liquid in pan.

Add 1 cup mixed Napa cabbage and red cabbage, sliced thinly, with about a tablespoon of chopped green onion and a good pinch of thyme, to the pan juices. I'm stretching the envelope here, combining more than one veg.

Saute on high, for about 1 minute, until cabbage wilts, but is still tender-crisp.
Add one apple, peeled and chopped, with a good sprinkle of caraway seed.

Continue tossing and stir-frying until apples are warmed.

Return beef strips to pan, toss gently to rewarm.

This truly a gourmet meal-in-a-dish! A whisper of thyme, the notes of caraway, sweetness from the apple taming the cabbages - and tender beef strips.

Good enough to company! If I wanted to share. That would involve another 5 minutes of cooking. But such easy cooking!

Chili Napa Beef Bites

Just the thing for a coolish almost fall day!

Slice Napa cabbage and place in steamer. Turn on burner to start the cabbage steaming and proceed with the meat.

Slice 4 oz. beef sirloin tip steak. Put 1/3 c. water into small fry pan, add chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, dash of salt, a grind of fresh pepper. Bring to boil. Add the beef, stirring gently until pink just barely dissapears. Turn heat to low, let simmer while the cabbage finishes steaming.

When cabbage is done tender crisp (about 2 minutes total once the steam starts hitting it), put into a bowl, and top with the chili beef and juice.

Serve with one Melba toast, a mug of green tea and your fruit choice for dessert if you want it with the meal.

Love Napa cabbage! It's wrinkles-and-crinkles hold so much of the saucy juice. Yum!