Asparagus Beef Stir Fry

The amount of asparagus I've been getting is ridiculous!   I have no idea what caused this increase, I didn't do anything different to the bed than in previous years.  Cut the dead fronds back to soil level, layered on a bag of steer manure, and let it be.  The beds producing quite a few small stalks now, so the harvest may be petering off.  Just leave the small ones to mature and die back on their own.

So, last night I was going to make pepper steak for dinner (the stir fry with bell peppers and strips of beef, in sauce over rice), but I substituted asparagus for the peppers. It was good unless you've been served asparagus too often!  

 It's a really easy recipe, using asparagus or peppers.

* thinly sliced beef steak (I used three of those little eye of round steaks, 30% off sale - that was more than enough for three people)

* oil

* bell peppers (any color, I use green), one is plenty, thinly sliced, or asparagus (as much as you         want!)

* garlic (either a squashed clover or a sprinkle of garlic powder)

* onion powder (just a sprinkle)

* 3 cups beef broth

* 2 TBS soy sauce

* 4 TBS corn starch (you may need more, but wait)

* cooked rice

Whisk the broth, soy sauce, and corn starch together well, and set aside.

If using peppers, stir fry the beef in the oil until brown.  Add the peppers and garlic (or powder) and slightly cook.  Add the broth mixture, simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally.

If using asparagus, stir fry the asparagus in the oil until slightly browned in places, but still a bit crisp.  Remove from pan.  Add a bit more oil and brown the beef.  Return the asparagus to the pan and add the broth mixture, simmer until thickened, stirring occasionally.

Serve over rice.

If you use low sodium broth and low sodium soy sauce, this recipe will need to be salted, or fake salted if you're on a low sodium diet.

If the sauce isn't as thick as you'd like, poor a little into a bowl and whisk in more corn starch and add to the pan.  Don't ever just try to stir corn starch into liquid, it will lump up and never be smooth! 

That's it.  Like I said, it's a very easy recipe.  Fast too.  Plus, it stretches a small quantity of meat to make a family meal!  It also uses up a lot of asparagus...  I like it better than with the usual peppers.