Stir-fried sirloin beef with cherry tomatoes, green olives and capers

I spend a lot time in the kitchen, and I like it. I can stay a whole afternoon tempering chocolate, lining pans, whisking eggs and flour, spreading batters, whipping cream, just to make a layered cake or mono-portion triple chocolate mousse; also I may enjoy shaping dozens mini-croissant. Or even, considering that both me and my husband eat huge quantities of veggies, I do not mind washing and cutting as many vegetables as a restaurant kitchen (I am not exaggerating) for the dinner side dish.
But when it comes to prepare meat, I don't know the exact reason, I prefer not to spend much time. Probably it is because I like rare meat (as I have already said in the post for Asian-style strip steak), or maybe because most of the times I cook meat only for two people - my two years old child has chosen a vegetarian diet, with pasta as favorite dish (I hope he will change, sooner or later) - and a slowly roasted piece of meat for dinner is not worth the effort and time.
The good thing of this habit is that I have an interesting repertoire of fast recipes, really helpful for busy-day dinners as well as in case of unexpected guests. One of these is the recipe for stir-fried sirloin beef  with cherry tomatoes, green olives and capers which is really tasty and easy to make. Since the meat is cooked just few minutes, without many additional ingredients and spices, it is important to choose quality meat to have a really good result.


Stir-fried sirloin beef with cherry tomatoes, green olives and capers
serves 4
600 g boneless sirloin, diced into 2 cm cubes
250 g cherry tomatoes
50 g salted capers
2 garlic cloves
50 g green olives, pitted
1 fresh red chili
2 - 3 tablespoons flour
olive oil
sea salt
white wine
basil or other fresh herbs (thyme, oregano, marjoram)

Soak the capers in water for a couple of hours, to eliminate excess salt; deseed and chop the red chili; halve cherry tomatoes and slice green olives.
Put the flour in a plate and use it to flour the sirloin cubes eliminating the excess in a colander.
In a large wok or a heavy-based frying pan stir-fry the garlic with 2-3 tablespoon olive oil until golden, then add the meat cubes and stir-fry for about 2 minutes, turning them on all sides, then remove and keep warm between two plates. Add in the pan a splash of white wine, then capers (squeezed from water), olives, cherry tomatoes, chopped chili and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, squashing some of the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Add the meat cubes again, cook for another minute over high heat, stirring. Eliminate the garlic clove and add salt to taste. Flavor with basil (or another fresh herb of your choice) and serve immediately.