Tag Archives: Pork

Grilled Pork Chops with Garlic

May 7, 2010 admin Leave a comment

Sometimes simple is the best. And pork chops are just great simply sprinkled with garlic and grilled. Here I added a dollop of My Salsa Verde for only a few extra calories. It gives the meat some extra moisture and a whole lotta extra flavor.

4 servings
135 calories per serving

4 4 oz. boneless pork chops
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
½ t garlic powder

Preheat grill. Place chops in a dish and sprinkle both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Sprinkle with minced garlic and a bit of water to help keep them moist. Cool 5 minutes per side or until done.

Dinner, Pork, Summer

Grilled Ham and Pineapple Salsa

May 3, 2010 admin Leave a comment

If you don’t have a grill, just pan fry or broil the ham. But whatever you do, don’t skip the pineapple salsa – it was just marvelous !

6 servings
140 calories per serving

Salsa:
8 oz. can crushed pineapple in juice
2 T orange marmalade
1 T chopped cilantro
2 t chopped jalapeno pepper
2 t lime juice
¼ t salt

Ham:
1 1 ½ lb. slice pre-cooked ham slice

Heat grill. Combine all salsa ingredients and set aside. Grill ham 10-15 minutes or until heated through – then top with salsa and serve immediately.

Dinner, Mexican, Pork, Summer

Mexican Kabobs

April 12, 2010 admin 1 Comment

Retread #2 – Oh so yummy ! I served them with roasted tomatoes and zucchini fritters for a super tasty, healthy and balanced meal 🙂

I usually skip right by kabob recipes – threading the skewers is a pain and a lot of time, the food falls off into the grill. Now I use a grill basket instead and gather up as many kabob recipes as I can 🙂 Just be sure not to stir or shake the basket too often. You want the food to get the nice little charred ends just as you would if you were cooking on skewers. Add some extra veggies and a bit more spice to bulk up the meal without adding too many more calories – grape tomatoes, button mushrooms, different color peppers….they all work well.

4 servings
145 calories per serving

1 lb boneless pork cut into 1 inch cubes
1 T taco seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 large onion in thin slices
1/2 medium green bell pepper in thin slices
Pam

Combine all ingredients and toss to coat well. Grill 10-15 minutes in a grill basket sprayed with Pam or on skewers that you have thread with the pieces. Here’s a link to the grill basket that I use:

You can also put all the ingredients in a bowl to mix, and then place on a baking sheet sprayed with Pam under a heated broiler for 10-12 minutes.

Dinner, Mediterranean, Pork

Pork Souvlaki

April 7, 2010 admin Leave a comment

‘Souvlaki’ is a Greek preparation of meat, usually skewered, and marinated in a lemon based sauce. Rather than the traditional side of tzatziki, this one has a side of a yogurt / tahini mix that ends up tasting like a cross between tzatziki and hummus. It was all quite delicious !

4 servings
279 calories per serving

1 lb. pork shoulder cut into ¾ inch cubes
3 T oil
¼ c plus 2 T fresh lemon juice
Lemon wedges for serving
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 T chopped fresh oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
2 T plain Greek yogurt
¼ c tahini
1-2 T water

Combine pork, oil and 2 T lemon juice with garlic and oregano then season with salt and pepper. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator 1-8 hours. Whisk yogurt, ¼ c lemon juice, tahini and 1-2 T water – enough to make the consistency like that of heavy cream. Heat a pan to high heat and cook pork until brown on all sides, about 12 minutes. If the pork releases too much moisture, make sure to dry out the pan a little by blotting with a couple of paper towels – if you don’t the meat won’t brown up and get all the tasty bits on the edges. Serve with yogurt sauce and lemon wedges.

Dinner, Pork

Pork Chops with Apple Stuffing

March 29, 2010 admin Leave a comment

A classic combination with just a little twist – the apples in the stuffing add a bit more overall crunch to the dish making this a definite keeper recipe. Make sure you use pork chops that are on the thicker side so they don’t dry out.

6 servings
370 calories per serving

6 boneless pork chops (about 4 oz. each)
¼ t salt
¼ t pepper
1 T oil
1 small onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and coarsely chopped
14.5 oz. chicken broth
1 can low fat cream of celery soup
¼ c white cooking wine
6 c herb seasoned stuffing cubes
Pam

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray a 13×9 baking dish with Pam. Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper and cook in oil in a heated skillet. Brown pork about 3 minutes per side and remove from pan. Add onion and celery to skillet and cook 3 minutes. Add apples and cook another minute. Add broth, soup and wine and stir well then bring to a simmer and remove from heat and stir in stuffing cubes. Pour stuffing into baking dish and then place pork chops on top. Cover tightly with foil and bake 40 minutes or until pork is done.

Dinner, Pork

Pork Piccata

March 19, 2010 admin 3 Comments

The lemony piccata sauce is just made for pork ! And this couldn’t be easier to put together – – yet you get a fancy, restaurant quality meal.

4 servings
216 calories per serving

1 lb. pork loin in 8 thin slices
2 T flour
1 T oil
1 t cornstarch
½ c chicken broth
3 T lemon juice
3 T chopped parsley
½ t salt

Heat oil in skillet. Dredge pork in flour and add to skillet browning each side. Stir together cornstarch, broth, juice, parsley and salt and add to pan along with pork and simmer 1 minute.

Crock pot, Dinner, Kid Friendly, Pork

Ham and Scalloped Potatoes (Crock Pot)

March 16, 2010 admin Leave a comment

Start it in the morning before you leave for work and come home to a great piping hot meal. This is definitely a crowd-pleaser and also makes a great dish when guests are coming – just add a salad on the side and you’re all set !

8 servings
310 calories per serving

1 ½ lb. 98% fat free ham cut into 8 pieces
9 medium potatoes peeled and sliced thinly
1 large onion sliced thinly
½ t salt
½ t pepper
1 c shredded fat free cheddar cheese
1 can low fat cream of celery soup

Layer in this manner:
½ the potatoes
½ the onion
½ the salt and pepper
½ the cheese
½ the ham
½ the potatoes
½ the onion
½ the salt and pepper
½ the cheese
All the soup
½ the ham

Cover and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4 hours.

Crock pot, Dinner, Kid Friendly, Pork

Pork Stew

March 1, 2010 admin Leave a comment

This one is so easy to do and produces great results consistently (I have been making it for years). And there is nothing like throwing the meal in the crock pot in the morning and then not having to worry about it all afternoon!

6 servings
380 calories per serving

1 T oil
1 ½ lb. boneless pork cut into bite sized pieces
¼ t salt
1/8 t pepper
8 small red potatoes, unpeeled and quartered
2 c fresh baby carrots cut in half lengthwise
12 oz. jar fat free pork gravy
¼ c ketchup
¼ t pepper
¼ t onion powder
¼ t garlic powder
1 ½ c frozen cut green beans, thawed

Heat oil in a large skillet and on high heat cool pork with salt and 1/8 t pepper. Cook 5 minutes or so, or until browned. Mix pork and the rest of the ingredients other than the green beans in the crock pot. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours. About 20 minutes before serving, stir in green beans and increase heat to high and continue cooking 20 minutes.

Asian, Dinner, Kid Friendly, Pork

Hoisin Pork

February 20, 2010 admin Leave a comment

Hoisin sauce is available in your market’s Asian section – it is a sweet preparation that is used in many Asian dishes. This almost sounds too easy – but the results you get are phenomenal ! Out of all the ‘diet’ dishes I have been making over the months, this is the one I have made the most.

4 servings
228 calories per serving

1 lb. pork tenderloin
4 T hoisin sauce
3 T minced garlic
2 T ketchup
2 T water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put all the ingredients in a zip loc bag and mush them all around to make sure the meat is evenly coated. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. You can also freeze the bag at this time and then defrost and use within a few weeks. Place meat on a wire rack and then place rack on a baking sheet (or you can just place directly on the baking sheet if you don’t have a rack). Squish out the rest of the sauce on top of the meat and then bake 1 hour.

Beef, Dinner, Pork

Mushroom Meatloaf

February 16, 2010 admin 1 Comment

Another day. Another meatloaf 🙂 There are so many variations and I just have to try them all 🙂 So far my favorite is still Good and Healthy Meatloaf. But this one works too – it does not look so full of veggies, so it might do better with kids 🙂

6 servings
265 calories per serving

8 oz. assorted mushrooms (or all button mushrooms is fine too)
1 T oil
1 t garlic clove, minced
½ c parsley, chopped
½ c pureed diced tomatoes (canned)
8 oz. lean ground beef
8 oz. ground pork
1 c quick oats
½ medium onion
¼ c Egg Beaters
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1 t kosher salt
½ c ketchup
Pam

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a baking dish with Pam. In a food processor, pulse the onion until minced and then add the mushrooms and process until minced and then sauté them in a hot pan with the oil about 5 minutes. If they remain wet, drain the liquid out of the pan. Add garlic, parsley and tomatoes and then set aside.

Mix meats, oats, egg, Worcestershire, and salt into the mushroom mix. Shape into a loaf and set in baking dish or a loaf pan. Spread ketchup over the top and bake an hour or until done. Let rest 5-10 minutes before slicing.