#8 - Thai-Style Pork Stew

Our church had a pastor's conference today and the ladies of our church provided lunch which consisted of soup, sandwiches, salad, and dessert. I took this "stew" and rice to serve with it. I should mention that I doubled the recipe but kept the 8hr cook time and it turned out a bit dry (my crock pot cooks a little hot, I think) so I ended up adding a bit more teriyaki sauce, vinegar, and chicken bouillon. If I were to make this again, I would try it exactly as the recipe says and cut back on the cook time.

YUM - 5 stars - I LOVED it. It's a bit spicy and has peanut butter in it so that gives it a nutty flavor also. You're supposed to serve it with peanuts and green onions on top and a slice of lime. I had bought a couple of limes but accidentally left them at home. :( Oh, and I got several complements...even from a certain picky eater I know. :)

EASE - 5 stars - SO easy. It is another crock-pot meal with very little prep. It takes 8 hrs in the crock pot.

HEALTHY - 5 stars - Guess what...It's a Cooking Light recipe! :-O

Thai-Style Pork Stew
Source: Cooking Light on www.myrecipes.com


Ingredients

* Stew:
* 2 pounds boned pork loin, cut into 4 pieces
* 2 cups (1 x 1/4-inch) julienne-cut red bell pepper
* 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
* 2 tablespoons rice or white wine vinegar
* 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
*

Remaining ingredients:
* 6 cups hot cooked basmati rice
* 1/2 cup chopped green onions
* 2 tablespoons chopped dry-roasted peanuts
* 8 lime wedges

Preparation

To prepare stew, trim fat from pork. Place pork and next 5 ingredients (pork through garlic) in an electric slow cooker. Cover with lid, and cook on low-heat setting for 8 hours. Remove pork from slow cooker, and coarsely chop. Add peanut butter to liquid in slow cooker; stir well. Stir in pork.

Combine stew and rice in a large bowl. Top each serving with onions and peanuts; serve with lime wedges.
Nutritional Information

Calories:
412 (30% from fat)
Fat:
13.6g (sat 3.6g,mono 6.2g,poly 2.5g)
Protein:
28.9g
Carbohydrate:
42.3g
Fiber:
2.1g
Cholesterol:
64mg
Iron:
2.9mg
Sodium:
425mg
Calcium:
37mg

Cooking Light, SEPTEMBER 1999

#2 - Thai Pork with Red Curry

YUM - 5 stars, VERY YUMMY!! Even a certain someone, who shall remain nameless but who doesn't like curry or coconut, liked this dish. Love you, Kelly! (oops...was that out loud?) Okay, so if you don't like Thai curry dishes you may noy like this as well as we did. Oh. and I forgot the cilantro at the end. I'm not sure how that would have affected this rating.

EASE - 4 stars, Pretty Dern Easy. Crock-pot just spells easy to me. :) However, I did have to chop up my pork (next time I'll probably just invest in the pre-chopped stuff) and then you have to brown it a third at a time. But, otherwise, it was chop, mix, done.

HEALTH - 4 stars, Perty Healthy. This recipe is from the magazine All You and is pretty good calorie-wise per serving. The fat content is a bit on the high side but it is great for a low-carb diet. I served it over rice so that would be the only addition to the included cals and carbs.

Thai Pork with Red Curry
Source - All You at www.myrecipes.com


Ingredients

* 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
* 1 (14 oz.) can reduced-fat coconut milk
* 1 onion, thickly sliced
* 1 red bell pepper, cored and sliced lengthwise
* 1 (8 oz.) package white mushrooms, quartered
* 2 tablespoons red curry paste
* 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt or shoulder, cubed
* 1 tablespoon kosher salt
* 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
* 1 cup chopped cilantro

Preparation

Stir in 3/4 cup chicken broth, coconut milk, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and curry paste to a slow cooker.

Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season pork cubes with salt and pepper and add a third of pork to skillet. Brown meat for 6 minutes. Transfer pork to slow cooker. Repeat with remaining 2 batches of pork and 2 Tbsp. oil.

Pour remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth into skillet, scraping bottom of pan to incorporate browned bits; stir this liquid into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for 5 hours. Using a slotted spoon, skim grease off top prior to serving.

Sprinkle cilantro on stew; Serve over rice, if desired.
Nutritional Information

Calories:
450
Fat:
28g (sat 10g)
Protein:
40g
Carbohydrate:
8g
Fiber:
2g
Cholesterol:
129mg
Sodium:
434mg

All You, APRIL 2006