Mid-January is about when I start craving a more diverse dinner table. The exhaustion of the holiday season has mostly dissipated and the very nature of the month feels barren, cold, and monotone. Enter a fun stir fry featuring tender venison (or lamb or beef), sweet potato glass noodles, and a big variety of vegetables (including broccoli romanesco and baby turnips), all in a homemade teriyaki sauce that will leave your tastebuds happy and you fully aware of what went into your meal.
If you don't have sweet potato glass noodles, you can use any type of Asian noodle you might have on hand. That said, the winter months after the holidays are a perfect time to explore fun ingredients that you might not have had much or any experience with before. Give them a try! The mix of vegetables I chose were to complement the beautiful venison I had on hand and present a variety of color and texture. If you can, I recommend you do the same. Eating the rainbow is beautiful, nutritious, and delicious!
This dish is a meal unto itself, but you can always have an Asian-inspired cucumber salad or some spring or egg rolls with it if you prefer. I like to keep it simple and aim for a nice bowl of this stir fry and a good cup of tea. It's hard to be mad at winter when you are eating so well. Enjoy!
Teriyaki Venison with Vegetables and Glass Noodles
- 6 oz. sweet potato glass noodles
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ cup soy sauce or tamari for a gluten free version
- 5 teaspoons packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon hot honey, or more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
- 8 oz. venison steak, lamb steak, or very lean beef steak, sliced into
- " strips
- 1 small head broccoli romanesco or regular broccoli, cut into small pieces
- 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced
- 3-5 baby turnips, halved and sliced
- 1 medium carrot, coarsely shredded
- ½ cup sliced green onions
Place the glass noodles in a large heatproof bowl and add enough near boiling water to fully cover them. Allow them to rest, submerged, for about 8 minutes or until softened. Drain and keep warm.
Combine the next 7 ingredients (water through garlic powder) in a resealable glass jar. Seal and shake vigorously; set aside.
Heat the toasted sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meat of your choice and stir fry until fully browned, but not cooked through - about 6-8 minutes. Add the broccoli romanesco and mushrooms and continue stir frying until the meat is cooked through, the broccoli romanesco is crisp-tender, and the mushrooms are tender with some browning on the edges, an additional 8-10 minutes.
Add the turnips, carrot, green onions, and softened glass noodles. Shake the jar with the sauce in it vigorously again and add that to the skillet as well. If needed, increase the heat to high to get the sauce to thicken and allow it to fully coat everything in the skillet. Serve hot.
- Yields: 4 servings
- Preparation Time: 30 minutes