Chinese-inspired Beef and Broccoli

By: Robin Asbell

Recipe Information

Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4

One of the best ways to save on your food budget is to cook family meals at home. We love to encourage shoppers to build up their recipe books, especially when we’ve got great sales happening in our store. Wednesday, October 23 through Sunday, October 27, our Meat department’s line of Oregon Country Beef steak cuts and ground beef is on sale at prices you’ll love. Take advantage of that deal and try this make-at-home version of a restaurant favorite.

Ingredients

• 1 pound broccoli or broccolini, large florets

• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 2 teaspoons sugar

• 2 tablespoons rice wine or sherry

• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar

• 1/4 cup chicken stock

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

• 2 teaspoons cornstarch, divided

• 2 tablespoons ginger root, minced

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil, or canola

• 1 pound steak, sliced

• Cooked rice

Preparation

1. Put on a large pot of water to boil, then blanch the broccoli by dropping it into the boiling water for one minute. Drain and rinse with cold water. Drain.

2. In a cup, mix the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, rice wine, rice vinegar, chicken stock and sesame oil, then whisk in the cornstarch. Reserve. Mince the garlic and ginger and reserve. Heat a wok or heavy skillet over high heat until hot, then add the oil and swirl the pan to coat. Toss in the beef and sear briefly one side before stirring. When the outsides of the strips are browned but the insides are still pink, add the garlic and ginger and stir for a few seconds, then add the oyster sauce mixture. Stir constantly until thickened, then add the broccoli and toss to heat through and coat with sauce. Serve hot over rice.

Board's Voice: October 2019

By Carol McFarland
Vice President, Moscow Food Co-op Board of Directors

Working on the Board of Directors at the Moscow Food Co-op is a true privilege and a dynamic experience. A lot has happened with both the Co-op and the Board in the year since our last fall retreat. We’ve had some loss and a lot of growth. We’ve been happy to bring four new directors in, and I’m so proud of how quickly they have come into their roles! We’re all getting on the same page and putting some deep consideration into our job of forward thinking for the Co-op – and just in time for our fall retreat!

This year we felt we’d all get the most out of our first off-site Board retreat in several years. We went to a training and cross-pollination workshop in Portland that was hosted by the consulting co-op Columinate. While attending, we were able to meet board members from five other co-ops in the Pacific Northwest and hear about their experiences. The topic of this event was a deep dive into looking at our “Vision of ‘We’” and our first Cooperative Principle of Voluntary and Open Membership. We spent our time scrutinizing how we can ensure that the way people experience our Co-op reinforces the prominent sign on our storefront that proclaims, ‘Everyone Welcome.’ We discussed efforts to become truly inclusive of all members of our community, and how that looks on the Palouse.

An insightful national survey for food co-ops was shared with us and shed light on different levels of engagement with the Co-op that can be broadly broken out into three categories: Owners, Non-owner Shoppers, and Potential Shoppers. Within these categories are Co-op Loyalists, Uninvolved Owners; “Why join?” Shoppers, Specialty Shoppers; Unaware Prospects, Aware Prospects, and Negative Perception Prospects. This launched a discussion on how to connect with people in our community who are at these levels and support them toward a higher level of engagement.

We want to do what it takes for everyone on the Palouse to know they are welcome at the Moscow Food Co-op. Working towards that goal includes unpacking what it means to be accessible to racially, ethnically, and socio-economically diverse groups. We were also able to acknowledge that inclusivity is something the management team already works toward every day, and celebrate the big boost to the FLOWER program, which is intended to boost Co-op accessibility to those affected by food insecurity. We are excited to use the momentum from this retreat to keep visioning our Co-op at the heart of the community we love.

It was an honor to attend this workshop with our group of thoughtful and committed people. Everyone was so enthusiastic that our driving times, breaks, and meals were all spent discussing how we can be our best as a Board. We are unified by the desire to help our Co-op keep serving good food to all the good people of the Palouse.

As we continue our discussions on this topic, please know that we would love to hear from you! What is your current level of engagement with the Co-op? What would be supportive on our end to help you ‘level up’ your engagement? Do you feel welcome in the Co-op? Do you have friends that might not? Our goal is for the whole community to love the Co-op like we do! Email us your comments at board@moscowfood.coop.