Asparagus Beef Lo Mein

I batch-prepped on Sunday afternoon and finished early because Brandon now operates the vacuum sealer, which is a development I am still adjusting to. The week was a winter week, the kind where the light through the kitchen window arrives at a particular angle and the freezer hums in a different register depending on the temperature in the garage. I made notes in my prep notebook on Sunday afternoon, the way I always do: meal name, ingredient list, cost per serving, prep time, freezer instructions. Twenty-eight bags. Two hours and eleven minutes. A little slow this week, by my standards, but Brandon was helping and the conversation was good, and I have learned, slowly and against my own grain, that the conversation is sometimes the point and the time is sometimes a courtesy I extend to my husband for being willing to chop onions on a Sunday afternoon.

The children are doing what they do, which is the central report of every week of my adult life. Ethan is 21, in Manila on his mission, and his last email mentioned a chicken adobo so good he is going to make me make it when he comes home. Olivia is 19, at BYU studying elementary education — the path she chose at age seven and has not deviated from once. Mason, 17, is in Brazil on his mission. His weekly emails are short and full of jokes. He does not write much about the work. He writes about the food. Lily is 15, in high school, asking the kind of questions in Sunday School that make the teachers uncomfortable, which I find difficult and also, secretly, admirable. Noah is 12, the comedian, the performer — the kid who does an impression of my disappointed face in front of company, and gets away with it. That is the family report. I do not have a system for these reports. I just listen and remember and call back when I said I would call back, which is most of the time and not all of the time, and the difference between most and all is the territory of motherhood.

The recipe of the week was salsa chicken, which I have made some specific number of times in my life and have refined to a system that I now hand to other people in printed form. The version I made this week fed eight, cost under fifteen dollars, and required twenty-six minutes of active prep, which is within my requirements and not a coincidence. The freezer in the garage is the freezer of record. The freezer in the pantry is the freezer of convenience. The distinction matters. I have stopped explaining the freezer-meal philosophy to people who already follow my work, and I have stopped apologizing for it to people who do not. The philosophy is simple: tomorrow is coming whether you are ready or not. You can either be ready or not. I pick ready.

I prayed on Thursday morning for the first time in two weeks, which the therapist would call worth noting. I noted it. I am still a Latter-day Saint. I am also a woman who has sat in front of a casket the size of a bread box. I do not see those two things as contradictions, but I do not pretend they sit easily together either. The bench in the chapel where I sit on Sunday is the same bench. The woman is not. The faith makes room for the woman. That is what I have learned to ask of it.

Dinner is in the freezer. Tomorrow is coming. I am ready.

Ethan’s email about the chicken adobo has been sitting with me all week — the way he described it, I could practically smell it through the screen — and it reminded me that the recipes worth keeping are the ones that make someone think of home. The Asparagus Beef Lo Mein went into three of the twenty-eight bags this cycle, and it earns its place every time: fast to prep, honest in its ingredients, and the kind of thing that reheats without apology. Brandon chopped the asparagus. I noted the time. It was worth it.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 lb beef sirloin, thinly sliced against the grain
8 oz lo mein noodles (or spaghetti as a substitute)
1 lb fresh asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
3 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish

Instructions

Cook the noodles. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook lo mein noodles according to package directions until just al dente. Drain, rinse briefly with cold water, and set aside.
Make the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, cornstarch, and sugar until smooth. Set aside.
Sear the beef. Heat vegetable oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat until shimmering. Add beef in a single layer and cook undisturbed for 90 seconds, then stir-fry for another minute until browned. Remove beef to a plate and set aside.
Cook the aromatics and asparagus. In the same pan, add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add asparagus and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes until tender-crisp.
Combine. Return beef to the pan along with the cooked noodles. Pour the sauce over everything and toss well to coat. Stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes until everything is heated through and the sauce clings to the noodles.
Serve or freeze. Serve immediately topped with sliced green onions. To freeze, cool completely and divide into freezer-safe bags or containers. Reheat in a skillet over medium heat with a splash of water, or microwave in 90-second intervals, stirring between each.

Nutrition (per serving)

Asparagus Beef Lo Mein — The Recipe That Earns a Spot in the Freezer