Pork Roast

Let me just preface this post by saying that this roast was so good, I totally forgot to take a picture of it.

2-3 lb pork shoulder or butt roast
1 onion, coarsely chopped
Handful of baby carrots
3-4 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped (you could certainly use dried rosemary in a pinch)
1 clove minced garlic
1 C orange juice
1 Tbsp orange or apricot marmalade
Salt & pepper, to taste
Cooking spray

Wash and trim the roast before placing into a slow cooker that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Place the veggies around the roast before adding the rosemary, garlic, orange juice and marmalade. Season with salt & pepper. Cook on low 8 hours.

I can’t believe how amazing this turned out, for the five minutes it took me to prepare. The sweetness of the orange juice and marmalade complemented the pork perfectly and the rosemary added so much flavor to the dish.

Spinach and Pork Tenderloin Salad with Pears and Warm Shallot and Cranberry Vinaigrette

Another winner from Cooking Light! This one came from the April issue of my new favorite mag. I am really excited at how satisfying this salad is. It totally filled me up and it felt good to eat so much iron-y, calcium-y goodness. I had to make a few slight adjustments, including only making two servings. My modified recipe is below. You can find the original recipe here.

8 oz pork tenderloin (or about half of one tenderloin*), trimmed and cut crosswise into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
3/4 tsp brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp dried thyme, divided
1 garlic clove, minced
pinch of salt and pinch of pepper
2 Tbsp flour
1 1/4 Tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, sliced thinly
1/4 C dried cranberries
1/4 concentrated pomegranate blueberry juice - that's what I had on hand. The original recipe calls for cranberry juice cocktail
6 C baby spinach leaves
1 ripe pear, thinly sliced

Combine vinegar, mustard, sugar, small dash of salt and pepper and 1/4 tsp thyme in a small bowl. Set aside.

Combine flour with remaining thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper. Flatten the slices of pork between two pieces of plastic wrap with a heavy pan. Toss the slices of pork in the flour mixture and set aside.

Heat 1 Tsp oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and minced garlic to pan. Sautee for 3 minutes or until the shallots are tender and lightly browned. Add cranberries and juice. Cook until liquid is reduced to 2 Tbsp (about 2 minutes). Reduce heat to low and add the vinegar mixture. Cook 1 minute, stirring with a whisk. Set aside and keep warm.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Shake the excess flour from the slices of pork and add them to the skillet. Cook 3 minutes or until brown, turning once. Toss the pork with 1 Tbsp warm cranberry mixture.

Cobine spinach and pear in a large bowl. Drizzle with remaining cranberry mixture and toss well to coat. Arrange the spinach on 2 plates and top evenly with pork.

WW Points per Serving: 8 points

*Since it's just Mr. Tote and I, we trim our pork tenderloins right after purchasing and usually cut them in half crosswise before packing them individually in freezer bags. Half of a tenderloin is usually plenty of food for the both of us.

Spiced Nut Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Cheesy Marsala Sauce

More fun with Grandma's spiced nuts! While I don’t have the actual spiced nuts recipe, I’m sure this pork would be great crusted in any sort of nuts. My grandma’s nut mix combines walnuts, almonds and pecans with a little bit of Splenda and some cinnamon. OK, enough “nut” talk.
1/2 pork tenderloin, cut lengthwise
1/4 C flour
1 egg
2 Tbsp milk
1 C spiced nuts
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
Pam spray
1 shallot
1/2Marsala wine
2 oz. lite cream cheese
1/3 C fat free half and half

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Clean and pat dry the pork tenderloin. Slice in half lengthwise.

Use a food processor to chop the nuts. Combine the egg and milk in a bowl.

Heat the butter and olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet.

Using three bowls, dip the pork into the flour, then the egg mixture, then the nuts.

Sautee the pork pieces over medium high heat for 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking dish coated in cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.

In the same skillet, remove any excess grease with a paper towel. Finely chop one shallot and add to the pan over medium heat. Sautee for 2-3 minutes before adding the Marsala wine. Continue cooking over medium heat until the wine reduces by 1/3.
Add the cream cheese and lower the heat. Use a whisk to incorporate the cream cheese. When almost fully incorporated, slowly add the creamer. Mix until heated through and cream cheese is fully incorporated. Add additional creamer if sauce seems to thick. Serve over the pork.

Bean with Ham Soup

A classic soup.. so classically easy to make. I remember having this when I was a kid, so my mom was the first person I called when I had a leftover ham bone. And when she told me the recipe, I asked "Is that it??" Nothing fancy, just simple flavors in a hearty winter dish. Perfect for all the cold weather we've been having!

1 lb Navy beans

1 ham bone
1/2 C shredded carrots
1/2 C diced onion
1 Tbsp liquid smoke

Cook the beans according to the directions on the package (both the overnight soak or the quick soak work just fine). Once the beans are cooked and rinsed, in a large pot, combine all of the ingredients with six cups of water. Simmer for two hours before serving.

This soup is excellent re-heated and can easily be frozen for later use.

Pasta with Brussel Sprouts, Bacon and Mascarpone Cream Sauce

1 C uncooked rotini pasta
6-8 strips bacon
8 brussel sprouts
6 mushrooms
1/2 C Fat free half and half
4 oz Mascarpone cheese – can substitute cream cheese if needed
1/3 C freshly grated parmesan

OK, before you make fun of me for indicating the exact number of brussel sprouts and mushrooms in this recipe, let me say this… I try to make my recipes as “user friendly” as possible. Some readers who are new to cooking may be looking for specific direction about quantities as they become familiar with their kitchen. So that’s why I provided specific numbers of the veggies. Otherwise, this recipe (and countless others) would say “a bit of this” “a smidge of that” “a handful of this” and “a bunch of that.” I tend to use what I have on hand, so tonight, I had half a package of mushrooms and some leftover raw brussel sprouts from a previous dinner. So there’s my two cents on that. Now, on to the recipe!

Start by cleaning and finely chopping the brussel sprouts lengthwise, almost like shredding them. Roughly chop the mushrooms. Set both of these aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta and add in when the water is boiling.

Cook the bacon, according to your liking. For this recipe, we used the pre-cooked stuff and just threw it in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large saucepan and sautee the brussel sprouts and mushrooms while the pasta is cooking. Meanwhile, crumble the bacon.

When the pasta is done cooking, drain the pasta, reserving a half cup of the pasta liquid. Add the pasta and crumbled bacon to the saucepan with the sautéed vegetables.

Add the creamer, mascarpone cheese and parmesan cheese and allow the entire mixture to meld together over low heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Top with additional parmesan cheese prior to serving.

Pork Scallopini with Butter White Wine Caper Sauce

We'll be adding this one to the "Meals Fit for Guests" list. So yummy!!! I was inspired by this recipe, but since I couldn't actually find the recipe, I just kinda guessed on ingredients and amounts. Good guesses because this dish ROCKED!

1/2 Pork Tenderloin
1 Tbsp capers
1/3 C white wine
3 Tbsp butter
1 Shallot, finely chopped
1/3 C Flour
1 tsp salt and 1 tsp ground pepper

This recipe can easily be doubled to use a whole pork tenderloin for 4 people, or two extra hungry peeps.

Slice the pork tenderloin into ½ inch slices on a diagonal. Pound thin between plastic wrap with a meat mallet or other suitable device. In our case, a large iron skillet worked great.

In a shallow dish, mix the flour, salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp butter. Coat the pork pieces in the flour mixture and then place in the bubbly butter. Cook for 1-2 minutes per side and then transfer to a warm plate. If needed, do this in two batches, depending on the size of the skillet.

Heat an additional tablespoon of butter in the same skillet. Add the chopped shallot and sautee for 2-3 minutes. Add the capers and white wine. Allow to reduce just a little before adding the final tablespoon of butter. Mix slowly to incorporate and remove immediately from the heat.

Spoon the sauce over the pork medallions and serve. I served this with two "white" sides. I know, food plating "no no" but we are still getting back in the groove since our return from Mexico, so I used what I had on hand. This included some smashed potatoes and some leftover cauliflower mash that my mom gave us. Yummy!!! If I can get her recipe, I'll be sure to post!

Mongolian Pork

I have been so excited to try this recent recipe from Elly over at Elly Says Opa. So when I was craving chinese take out, I knew this would be the perfect fix. One problem... no steak lying around. Solution... two pork center cut loin chops!! I did nothing else to modify the recipe, other than the meat.

This dish tasted amazing with brown rice. Mr. Tote commented on how tender the pork was. We will definitely be having this again. I can't wait to try it with some steak.

2 pork chops, sliced thin.
3 Tbsp. corn starch
3 tsp. canola oil, divided
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
2-3 large scallions, sliced

Pat the pieces of pork and make sure they’re dry; then, toss the meat and cornstarch together. Be sure all pieces are fully coated, but shake off excess corn starch. Mix together the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and red pepper flakes.

Heat half the oil in a wok at medium-high heat and add the ginger and garlic. Once fragrant (30 seconds or so), add the soy sauce mixture. Cook for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl.

Turn the heat up on the wok and add the remaining oil. Add the pork and cook, stirring until just browned. Pour the sauce back in and let it cook with the meat. Let the sauce thicken to your liking, and then add the green onions in just before plating.

The Most Amazing Ribs

My mom sent me this recipe from allrecipes.com and tonight is actually the second time I've made them. I just haven't had the time to post the recipe on my blog. But I am really going to make an earnest attempt to blog more often than in the recent months. So, we had these for dinner tonight with our good friends, Josh and Katie. The secret is in the three methods of cooking the ribs. These ribs fall right off the bone and are so incredibly moist.

3 pounds pork baby back ribs
1 pinch black pepper
1 pinch salt
1 pinch crushed red pepper
2 cups barbecue sauce
2 (12 ounce) bottles porter beer, room temperature

Trim the ribs of excess fat, as needed. Cut ribs into small portions of 2 or 3 bones each. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season water a pinch each of salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper to the water. Boil ribs in seasoned water for 20 minutes.

Drain, and let the ribs sit for about a half an hour. Meanwhile, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat.

Lightly coat the ribs with barbecue sauce. Cook the ribs over high heat for a 5 to 10 minutes on each side to get a nice grilled look to them.

Place grilled ribs in a slow cooker. Pour remaining barbecue sauce and one bottle of beer over the ribs; this should cover at least half of the ribs.

Cover, and cook on high for 3 hours. Check ribs every hour or so, and add more beer if needed to dilute sauce. Stir to get the ribs on top into the sauce. The ribs are done when the meat is falling off the bone. The ribs were cooked completely in the first process, the rest is about flavor and texture.

Spinach and Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Two important things... First, if you haven't figured it out yet, Matt and I have an obsession with cheese. Second, do not be fooled, my little banditos, by the fancy name of this dish. It is just about the easiest thing I have made in a long time!

Inspired by Joelen's Spinach and Feta Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, I bought some low fat Blue Cheese Crumbles and had some fresh spinach around. I must say that this dish was absolutely delicious! The creaminess and intense flavor of the blue cheese paired perfectly with the mild pork. The ingredients in my recipe below are slightly different than Joelen's but the method is the same.

tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup minced yellow onion
3 cups fresh spinach, loosely packed
One pork tenderloin
1/4 cup low fat blue cheese crumbles
Kitchen string
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and sauté until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and let wilt. Remove from heat and let cool.

Cut through the pork tenderloin lengthwise to within a half-inch of cutting all the way through. Open up the pork like a book and pound out each side until it’s about a quarter-inch thick. Distribute the spinach over each tenderloin and top with the cheese.

Roll the tenderloin jelly-roll style from the long side, and tie with string in 5 places. Season the outside of each tenderloin with salt & pepper. Let stand 30 minutes (I omitted this because we were starving).
Roast the pork until a thermometer inserted into thickest part registers 150°F, about 35 minutes. To serve, remove strings from the pork and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

Be sure to check Joelen's blog for a killer sauce that she made for this recipe. We were too hungry to make the sauce.

Thai Noodle and Pork bowl

Peanut Butter, Pork and Pasta... OH MY! I had some leftover ground pork in the freezer from the Parmesan Herb Meatballs and was craving something asian-inspired. This dish was incredibly fast to make and tasted great. I will definitely be making this again soon!

5 ounces pasta
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp lite soy sauce
4-6 oz ground pork
3 scallions
8 baby carrots
1/2 red bell pepper
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, shredded
1 1/2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional

Cut the scallions into 1-2 inch pieces. Cut the bell pepper into thin strips. Cut the baby carrots in half lengthwise and then cut again lengthwise.

Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta as directed.

In a bowl, mix the broth and soy sauce together.

In a large skillet, cook the ground pork over medium heat until browned and no longer pink.

Add the scallions, carrot, bell pepper, ginger and garlic. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, or until veggies begin to soften.

Stir the broth mixture and peanut butter into the pork and veggies. Cook until peanut butter is melted and blended.

Drain the pasta, reserving a half cup of the pasta water. Add the pasta to the skillet and toss evenly to coast with sauce. Stir in some pasta water if needed to keep the mixture creamy.

Asian Pork Tenderloin and Veggies

This is one of the simplest, best tasting pork tenderloin recipes EVER! It comes compliments of my Auntie Meg out in Colorado. I made a quick teriyaki sauce for the sugar snap peas and some leftover cabbage.

Pork Tenderloin
One pork tenderloin (apx. 1 lb ,pre-cooked weight, for two people)
1/2 C soy sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tsp dark sesame oil

Place the tenderloin in a large ziploc bag with the remaining indredients the day prior to cooking. Marinate overnight.

To cook, sear the meat in a skillet before placing in a 375 oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 150. Allow the meat to sit for 10 minutes after taking out of the oven. This keeps the juices in and finishes cooking the meat.

This is also delicious when cooked on the grill. In fact, we prefer it that way, but it was a whopping 15 degrees today. And, besides, we need a new grill. I hope by the time we're ready to buy one that we'll be in a house where we can actually have a decent-sized one!

Sugar Snap Peas and Cabbage

In a small bowl, combine 1 Tbsp soy sauce and 1 Tbsp barbeque sauce. After steaming the vegetables, pour the mixture over the sauce and sprinkle with some toasted sesame seeds.

WW Points per Serving: I'm not sure exactly how many points this is, but the meat should be about 1 point per ounce, post-cooking weight. The veggies are 0-1 point and the sauce is probably 1-2 points, including the sesame seeds.

Baked Potato Skins

What a perfect Superbowl Party treat this was! The local newspaper did a feature last week on great appetizers for a sports party. This one looked too good to pass up.

2.5 pound bag of medium russet potatoes (about 15 potatoes)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
Black pepper to taste
8 oz (1 block) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
4 oz. pepperjack cheese, shredded
1 package of center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 small bunch green onions, washed, sliced
3/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream seasoned with 1/2 packet of ranch dressing mix if desired

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the potatoes and dry them very well. Pierce with a fork.

Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt. Rub them all over so the oil and salt coats them.

Bake for 1 hour or until soft and the skin is crispy. Remove from oven and remove from the baking sheet. Drizzle about 1 tablespoon olive oil on the baking sheet and place it back in the oven to preheat.

Cut the potatoes in half horizontally. Scoop out the flesh (reserve for another use -- it can be frozen) leaving about a 1/4-inch layer. To double the batch, cut the halfs in half crosswise, making "scoops."

Carefully remove the hot baking sheet and place the potatoes on it cut side down. Return to the oven and bake 15 minutes or until the edges are crispy.

Remove from oven, turn them over. Season the insides with salt and black pepper to taste. Evenly divide the cheese in each and sprinkle with the crumbled bacon and sliced green onions. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese melts.

Serve with sour cream.

Grapefruit Pork Chop Casserole with Red Skin Smashed Potatoes

Matt and I had his parents over for dinner tonight. I had three grapefruits that I received from work so I have been scouring the internet for a good recipe with grapefruit. Finally, I came across this simple, delicious casserole. The tartness of the grapefruit juice, paired with the mild flavor of the cabbage were a perfect match with the pork chops.

Grapefruit Pork Chop Casserole
(Serves 6)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 onion, chopped
6 loin pork chops, about 3/4" thick
1 1/2 cups fresh grapefruit juice
1 green cabbage, shredded (about 6 cups)
2 apples, cored, peeled, pared and diced
2 tsp caraway seeds

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Heat oil in skillet. Add onion and cook until tender.

Add the pork chops chops, salt and pepper them and brown on both sides. Do not cook them all the way through.

Place the pork chops and onions in a four-quart casserole dish.

Add cabbage. Sprinkle with caraway seeds, salt, sugar and juice. Top with apples; cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Red Skin Smashed Potatoes
8-10 small red skin potatoes
3 Tbsp. lite butter (Brummel & Brown works well)
1/2 C lite sour cream
1/3 C skim milk

After boiling and draining the potatoes, add the butter, sour cream and milk and mash with a potato masher or large fork. Be sure to leave the skins and some chunks of potato!