Beef stirfry with black bean sauce

I made the rice according to the package directions but substituted half the water for beef broth. While the rice was cooking, I made the stir-fry sauce. I combined a couple of tablespoons of prepared black bean sauce mixed with 1 T cornstarch, 1 T water, 1/4 cup beef broth, 1 T sherry, 2 T soy sauce, and a bit of garlic (feel free to be lazy like me and use the prepared stuff) and grated ginger in a bowl and stirred well. 

A tip if you’re using a store-bought sauce for a recipe is to check the list of ingredients, and if you have a fresh version of any of them on hand - lemon rind, garlic, cilantro etc -  add a little to your dish. It will freshen the taste while still saving you time.

I washed and chopped my vegetables and set aside. I used onions, oyster mushrooms, broccoli, green beans and bok choy but any combination would do.

I cut the beef sirloin into strips, then sprinkled with pepper (no salt as there was enough in the sauce). I heated a small amount of sesame oil over med-high heat in a pan until quite hot. Test it by flicking a drop of water into the pan – it should sizzle right away. Then I cooked the strips of sirloin quickly, about 1-2 minutes per side so they were still pink inside. I set aside the beef, turned down the heat down slightly, and added a little more oil. I added the vegetables to the pan, starting with the ones that take the longest to cook. You can steam them for the first few minutes by placing a lid over your pan. Once the vegetables were on the crispy side of tender-crisp, I added the beef back to the pan along with the stir-fry sauce and cooked for another couple of minutes. Serve hot.