I like to call this simple cabbage and ground beef meal egg roll stir-fry because it reminds me of eating the inside of an eggroll. It’s a really simple, low oxalate dish that I started making fifteen years ago and still make regularly. In fact, it’s one of my stand-bys, especially for lunches. I like to make a double batch of egg roll stir-fry on Sunday, serve it up into five or six pyrex glass left-over containers and take it every day to school for a nourishing, low oxalate lunch.  You can add extra seasonings like ginger, sesame seed oil, or coconut aminos, but I find a little bit of salt and white pepper is still my favorite. Egg roll stir-fry is gluten-free, dairy-free, Paleo approved, and GAPS friendly, so if you are trying to heal gut issues, this simple stir-fry might work for you. Best of all, it’s really easy to make.

One reason egg roll stir-fry is so simple is because it uses pre-washed, pre-shredded, preservatie-free cole slaw mix. You can chop up your own cabbage for egg roll stir-fry if you want, but I almost always opt for cole slaw mix to make this recipe really easy. The mix I like best is the store brand at my local grocery store. It contains mostly green and purple cabbage with a little bit of carrot. Before carrots were retested last fall and found to be medium oxalate (11.39 mg. per half cup raw)  instead of high oxalate, I separated out all the carrots and measured them to see just how much carrot was in my one pound bag of coleslaw mix (yes, totally OCD, I know). I measured less than 1/4 cup carrot and about 3 cups mixed green and purple cabbage, so I decided it was okay to eat. Now we know for sure that it’s okay, and I base my oxalate totals on this break down of the cabbage mix.

Hope you enjoy this simple stir-fry as much as I do.

Egg Roll Stir-Fry

1 lb. ground beef or ground pork
1 onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
2-3 cloves garlic
1 one pound package cole slaw mix (or about 3 cups chopped cabbage)
1/2 cup green peas (optional)
Salt and white pepper to taste (UK readers click here)
2 T coconut aminos (optional)

Cook ground beef in a dutch oven over medium heat until it’s about half brown, half pink. Add the onions and garlic and stir-fry for another 4-5 minutes until the meat is browned throughout. Add cole slaw mix and continue to stir-fry until the cabbage is tender (about 8 – 10 minutes).  If you are using a high fat ground beef you may have to drain some of the fat before adding the cabbage. I use ground chuck and it’s about the right amount of fat and steamed meat juices to cook the cabbage nicely. When the cabbage is tender, add the peas and coconut aminos if using and heat through. Add salt and white pepper to taste.

Makes four servings.

Low Oxalate Info: All ingredients in egg roll stir-fry are low oxalate, except for the very small amount of carrots, which are medium oxalate (5.7 mg. oxalate per one fourth cup).  One serving of egg-roll stir fry (made with coconut aminos, peas and 1/2 teaspoon white pepper) has 5.5 mg. oxalate. I eat a serving of egg-roll stir-fry as my entire meal, but it’s also great served over long grain white rice.

Other Diets: Egg roll stir-fry may also be appropriate for gluten-free, dairy-free, Paleo, GAPS and GFCF diets.

I’ve been wanting to introduce coconut aminos to you for a long time, and this low oxalate broccoli beef seemed like just the recipe to start with. Coconut Secret Raw Coconut Aminos is a tasty alternative for soy sauce or fish sauce in your favorite Asian recipes. It is made simply from coconut tree sap and sea salt. Then it’s aged without the added bacterias, molds or yeasts, which are often used in fermented seasoning sauces. Coconut sap is very low on the glycemic index (GI of 35), is an abundant source of amino, acids, minerals, vitamin C, broad-spectrum B vitamins, and has a nearly neutral PH. Coconut Secret Raw Coconut Aminos is also soy and gluten-free, vegan, much lower sodium than most soy sauces,  highly nutritious and very low oxalate (0.2mg. oxalate per teaspoon or 2.4 mg. per fourth cup)! Sounds fabulous, right?

I have to admit I was a little skeptical when I first heard about Coconut Aminos. I was hoping to go soy and gluten- free, though, and Coconut Aminos sounded like the best way to keep my favorite Asian recipes in circulation. I also have some issues with yeasts and molds, so I liked the idea that it wasn’t fermented with these, just aged with natural sea salt.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I made my favorite traditional broccoli beef with Coconut Aminos and it was fabulous!  In fact, every Asian recipe I’ve tried with Coconut Aminos has been yummy.

Coconut aminos may be an especially good alternative for those who follow a low sodium, gluten-free, soy-free, yeast-free, vegan or Paleo diet. But even if you don’t follow one of these diets, I’d urge you to try it just for oxalate content alone. Regular soy sauce has 5.2 – 7 mg. oxalate per fourth cup, depending on the brand, while Coconut Secret Raw Aminos has only 2.4 mg. per half cup.  That can make a big difference in a recipe that calls for a half cup of soy sauce!

Hope you enjoy this Broccoli Beef! It’s one of my go-to recipes when I’m in the mood for a nutritious and yummy stir-fry. My four-year old boys even like Broccoli Beef if I pick out the onions first!

Broccoli Beef

2 tablespoons olive oil, lard or coconut oil {UK readers click here, Canadians here)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon raw ginger, minced
1.5 lbs. flank steak, cut against the grain (or just buy stir-fry beef from the meat counter)
3/4 cup onion, course chopped (about 1 medium onion)
3 – 4 cups broccoli florets (1 large head or a 12 – 16 oz. bag, frozen)
1/4 cup Coconut Aminos
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/8  teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2 teaspoon white pepper (UK readers click here)
salt to taste

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the meat and stir-fry until browned, about 2-3 minutes. Add the onions and broccoli and continue to stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, stirring often. Add the coconut aminos, sesame oil, cayenne and a pinch or two of white pepper. Continue to stir-fry another 1-3 minutes until the broccoli and onions reach your desired “doneness” and the flavors mix. Adjust the seasonings, salting if desired.

Serve over steamed, long-grain rice or cauliflower rice, or eat it plain, my favorite way.

Makes 6 hearty servings.

Alternative Marinating Method: Many broccoli beef recipes call for you to marinate your meat first in soy sauce, plus oil and other seasonings. I personally haven’t had much luck with substituting coconut aminos into the marinating sauce. I think the sweeter, thicker coconut sap makes it hard to cook the meat after marinating without burning it. My sauce also doesn’t turn out as well. Let me know in the comments section below if you do try to marinate with  coconut aminos and have any luck with it. I’d love to know your secret! When I have time and want to marinate, I mix 3 T olive oil, the garlic, the ginger, 2 T red wine vinegar and 1 tsp white pepper, and marinate for at least 30 minutes. I really like the addition of the vinegar. It tastes great, and it can make your meat be more tender, which is sometimes a real plus for stir-fry meat.

Low Oxalate Info: All ingredients in Broccoli Beef are low oxalate. Broccoli Beef with Coconut Aminos has 6.1 -7.2 mg. oxalate per serving depending on whether you use 3 or 4 cups of broccoli. If you eat one or one and a half servings over a cup of steamed long grain white rice, you’ve got dinner for only 6-10 mg. oxalate. Not bad! Add some fresh mango (or some mango sticky rice) for dessert and you’re still less than 15 mg. for your meal.

Picky Eater Pleaser: I always heat a separate skillet to cook a few pieces of meat and broccoli separate from the sauce and seasonings. You can then put a little bit of the sauce (or just the coconut aminos) in a bowl and let your picky eater dip her plain meat and broccoli into the sauce. Alternately, add a little salt and pepper to the meat and let her eat it plain.

Other Diets: Broccoli beef may also be appropriate for Paleo, gluten-free, soy-free, and GFCF diets.