Spicy Sweet Potato Pork Burritos

Serves: 2

Ingredients:
olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sriracha
1 tsp dried thyme
medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped
2 whole wheat tortilla shells
1 cup spinach leaves
1 cup pulled pork
1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup red onion, diced

Directions:
1. Boil a small pot of water and cook sweet potato until fork-tender, approximately 8 minutes.

2. In a small saute pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil and cook garlic until lightly browned.

3. Add sriracha, thyme, and sweet potato. Saute until sweet potato is browned.

4. Heat black beans and reserve.

5. Warm your tortillas.

6. Top with spinach and pork. Spoon sweet potatoes on top. Sprinkle black beans and onions on top of potatoes.

7. Wrap up your burrito and enjoy!


Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore

Pork Noodle Salad

I'm posting this recipe with some hesitation. It's the last of the "Pork Four Ways" series. The hesitation is because I just didn't like it. And I usually don't post recipes that didn't turn out well. But in this case, I am posting it because a) the flavors were delicious and b) it's an Emeril recipe. I'm guessing that someone out there will really like it, so I'm going to share.

Like I said, the flavors were great and I will probably use the dressing again in the future. The textures of the salad were less than appealling. I'd never used rice noodles before and they were quite odd--hard to describe, but they were springy and almost plastic-like. And the cabbage was not chopped fine enough, which did not complement the noodles well at all...I blame myself for that.

Anyway, here it is...you be the judge.

Ingredients:
4 ounces thin vermicelli rice noodles, reconstituted according to package
1/2 cup finely shredded red cabbage
1/2 cup julienned carrots
1/2 cup julienned daikon--we left this out because we couldn't find it at the store, but it looks like a white carrot
2 tbsp brown rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp Sriracha or other Asian hot sauce (found on the ethnic food aisle)
1 tbsp fresh orange juice
1/2 tsp fish sauce (also on ethnic food aisle)
1/4 tspsesame oil
1/4 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp minced garlic
9 to 10 1/4-inch slices cooked pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves
4 teaspoons toasted chopped peanuts
Hoisin sauce, for serving (ethnic food aisle)
Sriracha sauce, for serving (ethnic food aisle)

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl combine the vermicelli rice noodles, cabbage, carrots, and daikon.

2. In a small bowl combine the rice wine vinegar, canola oil, Sriracha, orange juice, fish sauce, sesame oil, ginger, and garlic and stir to blend.



3. Pour the vinaigrette over the noodle mixture and toss to combine.

4. Transfer to a serving bowl or plate.

5. Slice the pork slices crosswise into thin strips. Scatter the pork over the top of the noodle salad.

6. Top with the cilantro and peanuts.

7. Drizzle with the Hoisin and Sriracha sauce to taste and serve immediately.



Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore

Pork Won-Ton Soup

Back to the pork recipes that I was posting before life interupted....

The pork won-ton soup was awesome and so easy to make. Our grocery store didn't have won-ton wrapers, so we subbed in egg noodles which worked fine and tasted great.

Ingredients:
3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 1-inch piece ginger, finely chopped
6 to 8 large spinach leaves, sliced into thin strips
1/4 cup green onions, sliced on the diagonal
2 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, wiped clean and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon wheat free soy sauce
Pinch of ground white pepper
3 fresh wonton wrappers, cut into strips
5 to 6 1/4-inch slices cooked pork tenderloin, sliced again crosswise into thin strips

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan bring the chicken broth to a simmer.

2. Add the ginger, spinach, green onions, mushrooms, fish sauce, soy sauce, and white pepper and return to a simmer.

3. Add the wonton strips and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through and tender, 2 to 3 minutes.

*Note: we pre-cooked the egg noodles and added them in.

4. Add the pork, cook for 20 seconds, and serve immediately.



Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore

BBQ Pork Wraps

The second pork meal we made has to be my favorite. Mr. Food Whore also loved it and we happily took the leftovers to work each day for lunch. As usual, I made a few changes...and even though this is an Emeril recipe, I think I managed to improve it.

Unfortunately, because we brought these for lunch, I didn't get a good picture. My apologies...just trust me: these are delicious and well worth it.

Ingredients:
Cole Slaw--I used the Publix mix and followed the directions on package
10-inch whole wheat tortillas
1/4-inch slices cooked pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons of your favorite barbecue sauce
2 green onions chopped
Fresh spinach leaves (remove stems)

Directions:
1. Warm the tortilla either according to package directions. I like to put it in the microwave with a damp paper towel for 20 seconds.

2. On the tortilla, lay out a bed of spinach leaves.

3. Pour on 1-2 tbsp of BBQ sauce.

4. Sprinkle on some green onions.

5. Lay on the pork and top with cole slaw.

6. Roll up the wrap and slice diagonally.

7. Serve with extra cole slaw on the side.

Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore

Pork Stir Fry

The first meal we made with the grilled pork was Stir Fry. This was super simple to make.

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups Prepared Vegetables, such as snow peas, carrots, mushrooms, squash
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups leftover pork tenderloin, sliced (from Simple Grilled Pork Tenderloin)
1 orange, cut in half

Directions:
1. In a large wok over high heat, add olive oil.

2. When the oil begins to shimmer, add the vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook for about 2 minutes or until they begin to soften.

3. Add the leftover pork tenderloin and squeeze one whole orange over the stir-fry.

4. Stir to combine and serve immediately.

Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore

Pork 4 Ways

I've been obsessed with the new Green Network, specifically Emeril Green, lately. The Gist: Emeril teaches someone how to cook a few meals using good local foods, with an emphasis on not wasting, composting, and using renewable items (like cloth lunch bags).

Lunch Envy was the first episode I saw, and I soon caught myself drooling on the couch as I watched Emeril prepare 4 meals from a Pork Tenderloin. Here's the recipe for the Grilled Pork Tenderloin. Over the next few days, I'll be posting the rest of the recipes he used along with my tips, changes, and reviews.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup minced garlic
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh marjoram (I used dried b/c I couldn't find fresh at my store)
1 teaspoon orange zest
2 (3/4 to 1 pound each) pork tenderloins, trimmed
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Combine the olive oil, garlic, orange juice, marjoram and orange zest in a non-reactive container. Add the tenderloins, cover, and refrigerate overnight.



2. Remove from the refrigerator and discard marinade. Wipe excess marinade from pork and season the tenderloins with the salt and pepper.

3. Heat a grill pan over medium high heat. When hot, add the vegetable oil and then add tenderloins and cook, turning as needed, until well-marked on all sides and pork is just cooked through, about 21 minutes total. Set aside to cool completely.

*Note: we don't own a grill pan, so we cooked it on our grill. We cooked it at around 350 and used a meat thermometer to determine when it was done.



4. Once cooled, slice each tenderloin crosswise into 18 to 20 slices about 1/4 inch thick. Use as desired.



This yields 4 servings (one serving of pork for each of the four meals). We used two packages (4 tenderloins) so that we could double the servings. We really got way more meat than we needed for the four meals. We've managed to eat off this for a week and we still have some pork leftover. We'd probably only do 2-3 tenderloins in the future. Be sure to double the marinade recipe if you double the pork.

Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore

Rosemary Dijon Pork Chops

Mr. Food Whore and I aren't real big on Valentine's Day. We usually have a nice dinner at home and spend some time together. No need to fight for a reservation at a fancy pants restaurant when I can make something just as good at home (and at a fraction of the cost).

For the big day, I decided to make Rosemary Dijon Pork Chops. Yum, yum, yum! I was not raised eating pork. We ate seafood and poultry. Recently I decided to give pork a try. I've made some recipes for pulled pork, pork tenderloin and pork chops and HOLY COW! It's delicious. I wish my parents had let me get a taste of Babe when I was younger. This recent discovery has opened up a whole new door in the world of cooking for me. I feel like I have so many more options now. Ok, enough raving, onto the recipe.

Ingredients
4 boneless pork chops
4 small potatoes, chopped
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp rosemary
4 tbsp dijon mustard
carrots
italian dressing (optional)
broccoli (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. placed chopped potatoes in a microwave safe bowl. The original recipe calls for italian dressing. I never buy salad dressing, so I just mixed up some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and basil. Toss the potatoes in the dressing and nuke for 7 minutes.

3. Lay the pork chops out on a baking sheet. Spread with mustard.

4. Mix bread crumbs and rosemary and sprinkle over the porkchops, coating the top.

5. Surround the chops with the microwaved potatoes and cook in the oven for 30 minutes.

6. While the pork chops are baking, steam the carrots (and broccoli if you'd like another side item--we did).

And that's it. Another delicious and simple meal (serves 4). Mr. Food Whore was super impressed with how easy it was to make. And he was even more impressed when he tasted it. I thought this was delicious. One of my favorite meals lately. I will definitely be making this again soon.

For those counting calories, the entire meal (pork chops, potatoes, carrots and broccoli) totals 580 calories. Not too shabby for a meal rich in protein and veggies.

Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore

Pork Chops and Cranberry Sauce???

Peter Brady almost had it right. Here's a super simple recipe for Sweet and Tangy Pork Chops and Stuffing. This is one of those quick dinners that can easily be made on a weekday evening.

Ingredients
6 boneless porkchops
1 box Stove Top Stuffing
1 can whole berry cranberries
3/4 cup babrbeque sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar

1. Prepare the stuffing according to the box. I'm not usually one to use box mixes of anything. In fact, this was the 1st time I ever used Stove Top. I would normally advocate the real deal, but for a quick and simple dinner, I will surrender to the Stove Top gods.

2. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, cranberries and brown sugar. I used Sweet Baby Rays barbeque sauce because it is my favorite. Next time I will probably use a tangier, less sweet sauce. I will probably also exclude the sugar. The cranberries make this sweet enough that you really don't need to add extra sugar to it.

3. In a large skillet, cook the pork chops for 5 minutes on each side on medium high heat.

4. Mix the stuffing in with the cranberry mixture.

5. In a 9x13 pan, lay out the pork chops and cover with the stuffing mixture. Cook for 30 minutes at 350.

I served this with steamed broccoli and Onion Baked Potatoes. To make the potatoes, you will need onion soup/dip mix and 4 potatoes.

1. Chop the potatoes in to bite-sized pieces.

2. In a large ziplock baggie, combine 2 tbsp olive oil, potatoes and 1 packet of soup mix. Shake to coat potatoes.

3. Dump potatoes on a greased baking sheet and cook for 25 minutes at 350. (The potatoes and the pork chops can be in the oven at the same time to cut your cook time.)

When there's about 10 minutes cook time left on the potatoes/pork chops, steam your broccoli. Et voila, dinner in 40 minutes. Serves 6

Bon Appetit!
The Food Whore