Spicy Asian BBQ Stir Fry

Adventures in Asia

This recipe was an all-around winner:  easy, simple, and quick to prepare.  And the flavor - sweet, spicy BBQ with an Asian twist - is satisfying and delicious.  The soy sauce marinade tenderizes and adds flavor to the beef.  According to Nutrition Support, half of the marinade counts toward the recipe totals.  So in this case, we use 4 tsp soy sauce (2 condiments) to marinate the beef, but only count 1 condiment because the marinade is discarded when the beef is cooked.

Ingredients

14 oz beef eye of round - should yield 10 oz cooked (2 leans)
4 tsp low sodium soy sauce for marinade (counts as 1 condiment)
4 tbsp Walden Farms Thick and Spicy BBQ sauce (2 condiments)
2 tsp low sodium soy sauce (1 condiment)
1 tsp garlic powder (2 condiments)
8 oz package House Foods spaghetti-shaped tofu shirataki (2 greens)
1 cup bamboo shoots (2 greens)
1 cup shredded cabbage (2 greens)
1 tsp peanut oil (1 healthy fat)

Preparation

Slice partially-frozen beef against the grain into thin strips.  The thinner you can slice the beef, the more tender it will be.  Marinate the beef in 4 tsp soy sauce overnight.  If you want to prep several batches of beef ahead of time, you can freeze the beef/soy sauce mixture, and it will marinate as it thaws.

Instructions

Combine 2 tsp soy sauce, BBQ sauce, and garlic powder in small bowl to make sauce.  Rinse shirataki as directed on package.  Heat peanut oil in wok.  Remove beef from marinade; discard remaining marinade.  Stir fry beef in peanut oil.  Remove to plate.  Stir fry cabbage and bamboo shoots until crisp-tender.  Add shirataki, beef, and BBQ/soy sauce mixture.  Stir fry until combined and shirataki is hot.

Serves 2
Per serving, 1 lean, 3 greens, 3 condiments
321 calories, 10.0 g fat, 11.4 g carbohydrates, 4.8 g fiber, 45.6 g protein, 853 mg sodium

Fiery Shrimp and Noodle Stirfry

Adventures with Shirataki

I have been wanting to try shirataki for some time. According to Nutrition Support, 1/2 cup of shirataki noodles counts as one green. However, they recommend consuming shirataki in limited quantities, because it is not as nutritious as other vegetable green options. I love spicy foods, and shirataki is best in strongly-flavored sauces, so this recipe from New Beautiful Me seemed like a good one to adapt for my first shirataki experiment. The results, while not visually appealing, were delicious. I'd say that this is as good as anything I've eaten in a restaurant.

If you use preshredded cabbage and precooked frozen shrimp, this recipe is very quick and easy to prepare.

I had to cut the amount of sriracha in the original recipe in half, because 1 tsp of sriracha counts as one condiment.  Other hot pepper sauces count as one condiment for a 2 tbsp serving.  This is because sriracha has added sugar.  I am looking forward to this summer, when I can get some Thai chilies at the farmer's market and make my own sriracha with Splenda instead of sugar.  I have included nutrition information for this recipe with an additional tbsp of sriracha below (1 1/2 additional condiments per serving).  It increases the carbohydrates in this recipe, but they are still below the maximum value of 15 carbohydrates per lean serving.

I also reduced the amount of shrimp in this recipe to bring the overall calories down.  A lean needs to have a minimum of 25 grams of protein and 10 grams of fat.  This recipe meets both these criteria, even though each serving contains a little less than a full lean serving of shrimp and less than two healthy fats as listed on the program guide.

Preparing Shirataki

I used House Foods Tofu Shirataki for the first time in this recipe. From what I've researched, it has a better, less chewy, consistency than other shirataki products. It is critical to follow the preparation instructions on the package, or you will be very disappointed in the results.

Here are the steps I followed:

1. Hold your nose. You've been warned. Shirataki noodles have a very distinctive, pungent odor right out of the package. No, your package is not spoiled. And no, they will not smell like a dead goldfish once they've been cooked.
2. Open the package and dump the noodles into a colander to drain off the liquid.
3. Rinse the noodles well, for at least a minute.
4. Microwave the rinsed and drained noodles for one minute.
5. Dry them off by patting with a paper towel.
6. Stirfrying the noodles for a minute improves the consistency before adding sauces or serving.

Ingredients

8 oz package tofu shirataki, spaghetti shaped (2 greens)
2 cups shredded cabbage (4 greens)
4 tsp low-sodium soy sauce (2 condiments)
1 tbsp sriracha sauce (3 condiments)
1/2 tsp garlic powder (1 condiment)
12 oz cooked shrimp, tails off and deveined (14 oz = 2 lean)
1 Laughing Cow cheese wedge - light not regular (1 healthy fat)
2 tsp peanut oil (2 healthy fat)

Instructions

In large nonstick skillet, stirfry cabbage until crisp-tender. Add soy sauce, sriracha, and garlic powder and stirfry until sauce ingredients are blended and cabbage is coated with sauce. Add the noodles and stirfry. Add the shrimp and stirfry until shrimp is heated through. Cut cheese wedges into chunks, and stirfry until cheese is melted and combined into sauce.

Serves 2
Per serving, 1 lean, 3 greens, 3 condiments, 1 1/2 healthy fat
315 calories, 10.0 g fat, 1242 mg sodium, 12.6 g carbohydrates, 3.8 g fiber, 42.4 g protein

With 2 tbsp sriracha
320 calories, 10.0 g fat, 1350 mg sodium, 13.8 g carbohydrates, 3.8 g fiber, 42.4 g protein