When Mia came home from the hospital the second time, I was a little over my head with dirty dippers and bottles and never had time to cook. My new favorite became Kashi frozen dinners. In particular the Chicken Rustico. It is a wheat samosa basically with this sweet, earthy and spicy indian inspired filling. So when I was at the store the other day I was horrified that my back up lunch was no longer being carried. Of course I have been craving that for the past week and since I live in a relatively small city in Texas there is not an Indian restaurant for miles that would serve anything close to that on the menu. With a little help from various recipes I’ve come close with this.
The first recipe is a main corse. After looking at several blogs I found cooking pork in a slow cooker holds up nicely and shreds well. This is perfect for a busy me. I served this with couscous cooked in chicken broth and a pear, toasted walnut, and spinach salad with balsamic dressing. The second recipe is the samosa. I’m still working on a dough. For the mean time pre-made / store bought biscuit dough will do.
Moroccan Pork
- 1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 4 thick cut boneless pork chops, trimmed
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 2 red onions, thinly sliced
- 15 dried apricots, sliced
- 1/4 cup of golden raisins
- 3/4 C unsweetened apple juice
- 2 tsp minced, peeled fresh ginger
- 1/2 tsp of saffron
- 4 or so sprigs of fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp of dried thyme
- 1 cinnamon stick about 3 inches
- 1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
Heat 1/2 Tbs oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
Season the pork chops with 1/4 tsp salt and pepper.
Place the chops in the skillet and cook until browned, about 2 minutes on each side and transfer to a plate.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions, the remaining oil and the remaining 1/2 tsp salt to the skillet.
Cook, stirring, until the onions are golden, about 10 minutes.
Place half the apricots, raisins and half the onion in the slow cooker.
Place the chops and remaining apricots, raisins and onions .
Add the apple juice, ginger, thyme, saffron and cinnamon stick.
Cover and cook 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low until pork is tender.
Remove the cinnamon stick and thyme sprigs.
Top with cilantro to serve
Spinach Salad with Pear, Toasted, Walnuts and Balsamic Ginger Vinaigrette
This is an estimate of ingredients. I tend to through everything in a bowl for salads. This served two people.
- 2 or 3 handfuls of baby spinach
- 1 sliced and seeded organic pear
- 10 toasted walnuts
- 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
- 3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tsp of grated ginger
- pinch of salt and pepper
In a large bowl combine spinach, walnuts and pear.
In a small Tupperware container with a lid combine vinegar, olive oil, ginger, salt and pepper. Close container and shake vigorously. Pour desired amount of vinaigrette over salad and serve.
Now to the leftovers:
Pork and Mango Samosas
- 1 or 2 pork chops shredded and the remaining onion, raisin, apricot mix from the moroccan pork recipe
- 1 ripe mango, peeled and diced
- 1 Tbs of cumin
- 1 can of pre-made, store bought biscuit dough
- 1 egg beaten
Preheat oven to 450° and place a pizza stone inside. If you don’t have a pizza stone spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a bowl add the mango and cumin to the shredded pork and onion mix.
On a lightly floured surface, roll each biscuit into a 4 to 5 inch round.
Place 1 large Tbs of pork / mango mix into the center and fold the dough over. Press to create a seal.
Brush beaten egg over top of the samosa.
Carefully, place the samosas on the pizza stone (if you use a baking sheet, place the samosas on the sheet and then in the oven) and cook until golden brown. About 10 minutes.
It’s making you hungry right? Me too.
Serve with blackberry and arugula salad with balsamic / ginger vinaigrette.
I see a very loud day ahead of me.
