pork | The Slow Carb Foodie

October 20, 2011

Slow Carb or Paleo Chimichurri Salad

Chimichurri is a flavor-packed sauce or marinade from Argentina. Since I’m trying to eat more raw veggies, I decided to take a typical marinade and build a super healthy salad around it.

Don’t be intimidated by the large number of ingredients. This is really easy.

Time Saving Tip: You can make extra chimichurri and freeze batches for later.

Paleo Chimichurri Salad Recipe — Slow Carb or Paleo Chimichurri Salad

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Salad Ingredients

10-12 oz meat of your choice, cut into chunks or strips (chicken, beef or pork work well)
4 cups baby spinach
½ red onion, thinly sliced
½ cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
½ red bell pepper cut into strips
½ avocado cut into cubes

Chimichurri Marinade Ingredients

½ cup cilantro leaves (coriander here in Australia)
¼ cup fresh mint leaves
¼ cup flat-leaf parsley
3 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon hot pepper flakes
¼ cup of olive oil
Splash of vinegar or lime juice
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Prepare the chimichurri marinade. Chop all the herbs. Combine the herbs and garlic in a bowl. Alternatively, you could use a food processor if you want a smoother marinade/dressing. Add the oil and a splash of vinegar or lime. Correct the seasoning, adding salt or vinegar, to taste. The chimichurri should be highly seasoned.
Pour a 1/2 of the chimichurri into a baking dish just large enough to hold the meat you want to marinade. Add meat. Cover and store in the fridge for a few hours (at least 30 minutes!) Set the rest of the chimichurri aside.
Heat up a large skillet. Cook meat until thoroughly cooked (3-5 minutes should do.) If cooking steak, you can leave medium rare.
Combine veggies in a large salad bowl. Toss with the chimichurri you set aside. Add meat. Serve and top with sprigs of cilantro.

April 10, 2011

Slow Carb Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

This recipe for stuffed mushrooms makes an awesome main course served with stir-fried veggies or great nibbles if you’re throwing a party. The recipe is made with ground pork, which I think works best, but for those who don’t eat pork, you could make it with ground chicken or turkey as well.

The recipe was inspired by a recipe in Jane Kennedy’s “OMG! I Can Eat That?” It was intended to be an appetizer done with shiitake mushrooms, but I had quite a few portabellas on hand that were in danger of going “off”, so improvise I did. If you’re making these mushrooms as a meal where each person will have their own, I’d stick with the portabellas. If you’re looking to create “finger food” for a party, the shiitakes would be great.

Serves 6

Ingredients- filling

6 Portabella mushrooms (or 24 shiitake mushrooms)
½ lb ground pork mince
4 green onions (or “spring onion”, in other parts of the world)
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 Tbs olive oil or macadamia nut oil

Ingredients- sauce

2 Tbs soy sauce or tamari
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
Squeeze of lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Prepare the mushrooms by cutting off the stems and placing them on a tray. If you’re using portabellas, you may want to scoop out the insides. I didn’t because I was feeling lazy, but you’ll notice that by leaving them in, you get some brown mushroom liquid sloshing around.
In a large bowl, combine the pork, green onions, garlic, chilli, white pepper and sea salt. Divide evenly into your mushroom cups.
Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Place each mushroom, filled-side down, in the pan and cook for a few minutes until the tops turn golden. Turn and cook on the other side for two minutes.
While the mushrooms cook, make the dipping sauce by mixing soy sauce/tamari, sesame oil, chilli and lemon juice. Set aside.
Remove the mushrooms from the pan and transfer to the baking tray. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until cooked through. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.

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February 13, 2011

Slow Roasted Puerto Rican “Pernil” Pork Shoulder

I found this recipe in a roundup of NY Times “Minimalist” recipes. I cooked the pork a bit longer than the recommended 3 hours, and it was flavorful and tender, as expected from a cut of meat that cooks for hours over a low heat.

I served the pork over a roasted garlic and butter bean mash and raw cabbage slaw. The recipe made enough for my boyfriend and I have dinner plus a week’s worth of lunches for me.

The butter bean mash wasn’t much of a hit (hence no recipe), but the pork was a winner. Next time I’ll be trying a different side dish.

Slow Carb Pork Recipe — Slow Roasted Puerto Rican Pork over Garlic Butter Bean Mash

Ingredients

1 pork shoulder, 4 to 7 pounds (or use fresh ham)

4 or more cloves garlic, peeled

1 large onion, quartered

2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves or 1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ancho or other mild chili powder

1 tablespoon salt

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil as needed

1 tablespoon wine or cider vinegar

Lime wedges for serving.

Directions

1. Heat oven to 300 degrees. Score meat’s skin with a sharp knife, making a cross-hatch pattern. Pulse garlic, onion, oregano, cumin, chili, salt and pepper together in a food processor, adding oil in a drizzle and scraping down sides as necessary, until mixture is pasty. (Alternatively, mash ingredients in a mortar and pestle.) Blend in the vinegar.

2. Rub this mixture well into pork, getting it into every nook and cranny. Put pork in a roasting pan and film bottom with water. Roast pork for several hours (a 4-pound shoulder may be done in 3 hours), turning every hour or so and adding more water as necessary, until meat is very tender. Finish roasting with the skin side up until crisp, raising heat at end of cooking if necessary.

3. Let meat rest for 10 to 15 minutes before cutting it up; meat should be so tender that cutting it into uniform slices is almost impossible; rather, whack it up into chunks. Serve with lime.

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February 10, 2011May 21, 2015

Slow Carb Walnut Crusted Pork Chops

This recipe was a favorite of mine long before the Slow Carb Diet. I originally found it in my mom’s Cooking Light magazine. It has been reposted here at myrecipes.com.

This is one of those healthy recipes that you actually forget is healthy. It’s always a crowd pleaser, and quite honestly, it’s so good that when I make it I forget I’m on a diet.

While nuts are considered an occasional treat on the Slow Carb Diet, you can still enjoy this meal guilt-free knowing walnuts are full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, lower cholesterol and tryglyceride levels, lower the risk of heart disease, combat depression and help with weight loss (plus some other benefits as well!)

I’m posting the recipe as is, but there are a few modifications I do that I’ll mention. I chose to create a Worcestershire substitute because of the high amount of sugar in the sauce, and I am being quite diligent about those little cheats. The devil is in the details, folks.

A few other notes: The bacon is nice, but totally unnecessary. If you don’t have it or don’t like it, just add a bit of oil to the pan to keep the chops from sticking. I often double the amount of walnuts and spices to make sure I have plenty of coating, but that’s just me. It’s not really necessary either. Regarding spices, sometimes I don’t even use sage as suggested. After some experimentation, I’ve discovered I prefer a mixture of half rosemary and half thyme instead of the sage.

( 4 servings)

Ingredients

Pork: 4 (8-ounce) bone-in center-cut pork chops, trimmed
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (*very high in sugar – try this replacement!)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup walnuts, finely ground
1 bacon slice
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

Preparation

1. To prepare pork, place chops in a shallow dish; drizzle evenly with Worcestershire. Combine salt, sage, and black pepper in a small bowl. Reserve 3/4 teaspoon salt mixture. Add walnuts to remaining salt mixture; toss well. Press walnut mixture onto both sides of pork chops. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.

2. Cook bacon slice in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan; crumble. Add pork chops to drippings in pan; cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Add 1/4 cup chicken broth to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and cook 6 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Remove pork from pan.