Cauliflower Fried Rice (Dukan and Paleo)

Cauliflower Fried "Rice"

We loved this recipe!

Thank you Nomnompaleo.com for sharing your recipe!  We can't wait to try different variations of this fried "rice".  We may have mentioned before, but we are not big fans of cauliflower, don't really care for the taste.  In the past, we never made cauliflower at home, it's expensive here in Hawaii and it's usually a side dish at a restaurant, steamed with not much seasoning.  We've experimented with Cauliflower Pizzas and now enjoy cauliflower!  (We'll post the Cauliflower Pizza recipe soon).

We did change the recipe a tiny bit to accomodate either what we could find at the Farmer's Market and what we had in our fridge.

We made the Paleo version of this recipe but it's easy to change it to a Dukan recipe...many Paleo recipes are!  For Dukan Dieters, omit the bacon if you're worried about fat and use a lean meat or you can go meatless too.  Also use non-stick spray instead of the bacon fat.  Easy!

RECIPE:
Serves 4-6
Prep time: at least 20 minutes (we have a tiny food processor, the male half said we could buy a larger one if I start using ours on a regular basis :-))
Cook time: around 20-30 minutes (sorry I forgot how long it took us)

1 small head of cauliflower, washed and cut into florets
3 slices of uncured bacon, diced small
2 eggs, beaten
1 inch piece of ginger, grated fine
1/2 yellow onion, diced small (you can use a whole one)
4 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, chopped
2 T. fresh cilantro, chopped
2 T. fresh basil, chopped
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
splash of vinegar
splash of Red Boat Fish Sauce (don't leave this out!)

Pulse cauliflower florets until they are the size of rice (we over pulsed ours).  Cook bacon in a pan over medium heat.  While the bacon is cooking, chop the rest of your ingredients.  Remove cooked bacon and some of the bacon fat (leave enough to cook the egg).  Beat eggs, add salt and pepper, then fry a thin omelet in the pan.  My mother used to chop the omelet up into small pieces when the egg was almost done cooking, so we did the same.  Remove egg from pan.

Turn the heat up to medium-high (add bacon grease or spray pan with non-stick spray) and add chopped onions with a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper.  When the onions are softened, add the mushrooms and stir fry until mushrooms are almost cooked through.  Add ginger, stir fry for 30 seconds.  Add cauliflower and some salt and pepper, stir.  Put a lid on your pan and lower your heat to low and let cook for about 5 minutes.  When the cauliflower is tender, add the egg and herbs.  Mix, add salt and pepper if needed.  Top off your fried "rice" with a splash of fish sauce and serve.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan and Paleo Pulled Pork

Easy Pulled Pork

We loved this recipe!

Ok, first of all, our first time on Dukan, we stayed away from fatty meats...hardly used our slow cooker.  This time around, instead of just a 30 minute walk per day, we are trying to do 30-45 minutes of aerobic exercise which is why during Cruise, we weren't afraid to have pulled pork.   I usually eat Pork Adobo once a week from a little Filipino shop near my work -- it's made with pork shoulder -- I discard all the fat and eat only the meaty pieces and I've lost almost half the weight I set out to lose.   If you've still got a lot of weight to lose and you're not doing some sort of almost daily aerobic exercise, you may want to wait until Consolidation to try this recipe.

The first week of January it was rainy and windy here...almost every day.  It seemed like the temperature was always 68 degrees when I checked my phone.  So, Thursday, our usual 'meal planning' day, we pulled out a Greek Chicken Stew recipe and this Crock Pot Pulled Pork recipe.  They were perfect for the rainy, windy and chilly weekend.

We found this recipe soon after we decided to start easing into the Caveman way of eating.  Saved it and didn't intend to use it until we lost all our weight and truly eased into the Caveman diet.  We couldn't wait :-)  This recipe is very easy and very tasty -- oh and it's a lot for two people.  We froze half the pulled pork and the other half we ate for two meals with no rice or bread.

Mix your dry rub.

1/2 the onions line the bottom of the crock pot

Rub all your dry rub on your pork (before placing it in the pot of course)

Place the rest of your onions on the top of your pork, cover
crock pot and cook according to the directions below

RECIPE:
Serves: a lot (see paragraph above)
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes (we cut some fat from our pork shoulder)
Crock Pot Cook Time: 5-6 hours on high, then 3-4 hours on low
6 Qt. Crock Pot used

4-5 lb. pork shoulder/butt (some fat removed), rinse and pat dry
1-2 yellow onions, sliced (we used one)

Dry rub:
3 T. chili powder
1 t. coriander
2 t. ground cumin
2 t. onion powder
1 T. dried parsley
1/4 t. chipotle chili powder
2 t. kosher or sea salt

Mix all dry rub ingredients together, set aside.  Rub dry rub all over pork.  Be sure to use all the dry rub.  We let our pork sit out on the counter for about 20 minutes.  Line your crock pot if you have liners (they make clean-up so easy!).  Place half your onions on the bottom of the crock pot.  Place your pork in the pot.  Place the remainder of the onions on top of the pork, cover and cook on high for 5-6 hours (we cooked it for 5 hours).  Then cook for another 3-4 hours on low (we cooked it for 3 hours).  After the 8 hours of cooking, we opened the pot, checked to be sure the pork was falling apart, then pushed the pork into the juice.  Turn your pot to warm and cover to let the top part of the pork that wasn't in the juice to soak up some liquid.

In the meantime, prepare any veggies you will be having with your pork.  Depending on which diet you're on and if you're not trying to lose weight, you can make a gravy with the drippings and use sparingly.  We dipped our pork in the juice to add a little moisture...it was very tasty just like that!

Remove pork from crock pot, take two forks and shred pork removing fat as you go.  We had this with sauerkraut and broccoli.  Made an omelet with some of the leftovers and are considering lettuce wraps with the half we froze.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Frittata Crazy: Dukan Broccoli Bacon Egg White Frittata

This photo is of our Rotisserie Chicken Egg White Frittata
but the Broccoli Bacon one looked similar.

We loved this recipe!

Well, I started to go frittata crazy this week...the male half of this couple scarfed half of the frittata down with no problem but I got the look -- the "need variety" look.  So, we'll be giving frittatas a rest for a week or so :-)

This recipe is really the same base recipe we used for our Dukan Rotisserie Chicken and Broccoli Frittata -- we used bacon instead of rotisserie chicken and no basil.  We treated ourselves to the bacon...trimmed some of the fat from the bacon and got rid of most of the bacon grease after cooking the bacon.  We are very new to the Paleo diet and are still learning -- as mentioned before, there are different versions and we're trying to figure out our Dukan - Paleo plan for 2013 -- that said, this actually turned out to be a Paleo recipe too!  We're still in Cruise (Dukan) but we went ahead with the bacon (a.k.a. more fat than we probably should consume during Cruise) anyway.  We're listing this as a Cruise recipe too, you can always use turkey bacon instead.

We didn't take any photos because the steps were almost the same as our Dukan Rotisserie Chicken and Broccoli Frittata and it looked very similar.

RECIPE:
Serves  2 (no starch/carbs served with the Frittata)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

3 slices of bacon, chopped (some of the fat trimmed and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before frying)
1 1/2 c. broccoli, chopped into small pieces
1/4 sweet yellow onion, diced small
2 button mushrooms, we minced ours, but thin slices will work too
3/4 c. egg whites
1/3 c. water
1/4 c. or less mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 t. adobo seasoning

Fry bacon over medium heat until cooked (depends on how you like it, we would have rather cooked ours until crispy but we had a lot of holiday baking to do this night).  Remove most of the bacon drippings (we reserved ours for future Paleo meals).  We left approx 1/2 T. of bacon drippings in the pan.  Add onions and mushrooms, saute until tender.  Add broccoli, cover and steam for approximately 2 minutes (less if you want crunchier broccoli and longer if you like soft broccoli).  In a bowl, mix egg whites, water, cheese and adobo seasoning, set aside.  Remove cover, add bacon back, mix everything up.  Add egg white mixture, cover and let your frittata cook until eggs are done -- ours took approximately 5-6 minutes.  Cut into wedges and serve.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Pork Chops (aka No Recipes' Easy Pork Chops)

No Recipe's Pork Chops

We loved this recipe and we're going to invest in a meat thermometer.

As mentioned in an earlier post, we love Marc's blog "No Recipes".  Last month Marc posted a "Best Pork Chops" recipe and we just had to try it.  We don't eat a lot of pork but once in a while to have something different and if it's on sale, we'll pick up some pork chops.  As children, we both were raised eating pork chops pan fried with all the fat left on and a mushroom "gravy" made from the pork chop drippings and cream of mushroom soup.  One of these days we'll make pork chops this way but using fat free cream of mushroom soup.

Gravy seems to be the only thing that saves our pork chops.  We are guilty of always overcooking it trying to be sure we don't get sick eating undercooked pork.  We tried Marc's recipe and although we slightly overcooked it, the brined pork chop was yummy!  We're definitely trying this recipe again -- that's why we're asking Santa for a meat thermometer!

We rarely use our Wii for games (mostly use it for exercise) but we decided to challenge each other to bowling -- which lead to a baseball challenge, then a tennis challenge and if we owned two Wii Nunchucks, we would have boxed each other too ha ha.  This lead to dinner being prepared late which meant we made mistakes while rushing to get dinner cooked.  Eeek!  Our pork chops did not look as beautiful as Marc's with all of our rushing, but the recipe below is what he uses.

Our pork chops came out a little on the sweet side.  We'll adjust the recipe the next time around.  It may have been the full amount of Splenda Brown Sugar we used or the honey in the wine sauce.  We also used more wine than we are allowed, but if you look at it this way -- there were 4 pork chops, 1 cup of white wine would break down to 1/4 c. white wine per pork chops...but I'm sure it doesn't work that way.  In any case...we had this on Saturday night (Cruise PP) along with some other Dukan meals we prepared and this morning, we lost a pound!   It's up to you if you rather wait until Consolidation or Stabilization or perhaps the later half of your Cruise Phase -- you can always reduce the wine and honey or make this pork chop with fat free cream of mushroom sauce instead of the wine glaze.

RECIPE:
Serves 2-4 (depends if you're having a starch, I had two pork chops with broccoli and no starch, the male half of this couple had one pork chop, broccoli and red rice)
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes (plus 4 hours or overnight brine time)
Cook Time: depends on how thick your pork chops are, approx. 10 minutes

4 - 1 inch thick pork chops, excess fat removed (ours were thicker, our local store didn't have 1 inch thick chops)

Brine:
2 T. Splenda brown sugar
2 T. salt
4 c. water
1 clove garlic (we have the Costco minced one, so we used that)

1 T. olive oil to fry chops in or nonstick spray (we went for the olive oil)
1 large onion, sliced thinly (oops, we sliced ours too thick)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c. white wine
2 T. honey
1 T. whole grain mustard

In a gallon size sealable freezer bag, add the brine ingredients.  Seal the bag and swish it around to dissolved the sugar and salt.  Add the pork, press out as much air as you can, then seal the bag.  Let pork chops sit in the brine for at least 4 hours, we chose to brine them overnight as Marc suggested.  (We also placed the bag in a pan just in case it leaked).

Remove the pork chops from the brine and use paper towels to remove as much moisture from the surface of the chops as you can.  Marc explains if there's water on the surface, the chops will not brown.

Add the oil to your pan and heat over medium high heat.  As you can see from our photos, our pan was not large enough for 4 pork chops...try not to overcrowd your food like ours.  Under normal circumstances we would cook two chops, then cook the next two...but since we were late in getting dinner started, we squeezed all 4 into the pan.  Place the chops in the pan while the pan is still cold.  Marc explains since the chops are brined with sugar, they'll burn before the cook through if you place them in a hot pan.

Fry the chops undisturbed until they are golden brown on one side and have gone from pink to beige about halfway up the sides.  Flip the chops over and fry the other side until well browned and an instant read thermometer reads 141 degrees Fahrenheit.  Transfer them to a place and let them rest.  Please see Marc's post about cooking pork - eventually you'll want to get your pork chops to an internal temp of 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

Drain most of the excess oil out of the pan and add the onions and garlic.  Saute until the onions are soft (we used red onions which we didn't care for in this recipe).  Add the wine, honey and mustard and turn up the heat to boil off the alcohol and thicken the glaze.

When the glaze is nice and thick, add the pork chops back to the pan and flip them over repeatedly to coat them with the glaze.  Once there is no liquid left in the pan, the pork chops are done.  Top with caramelized onions.   Serve as is on Pure Protein days or with a side of veggies on Protein Veggie days or with brown rice during Consolidation.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Pork Tofu

Pork Tofu

This is a scheduled post...we are away on a business trip. We'll be back shortly!

We loved this recipe and it's so easy to make!

Pork Tofu is another local Hawaii favorite.  We believe it's actually an Okinawan dish.  Next time we make this, we'll definitely add vegetables like bean sprouts, Chinese cabbage, bamboo shoots, etc.

We've had this at several restaurants here in Hawaii, most cut their tofu into larger pieces than we did...we cut ours smaller since the male half had his dental surgery the other month.  The size of your tofu is up to you...but try not to cut it too small or it'll fall apart while cooking.

On another note, the male half of this couple bought us a Prime Lens which is great for taking portrait shots...which also takes great food pics!  These pics were taken with this lens.  It's a bit tricky to use, but after some practice we hope to be better at it!

RECIPE:
Serves 2 (he had red rice with his and I had mine plain)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes or so

1 lb. lean pork, thinly sliced (you can use less pork if you are using a lot of veggies)
1/2 medium onion, sliced (you can use the whole thing)
8 to 10 stalks of green onions, cut into 1 1/2" lengths (ours were pre chopped)
1 pound tofu, drained and cubed (we used the extra firm one)

Sauce:
1/3 c. low sodium soy sauce (we filled our 1/3 c. measuring cup about 2/3's full, then filled the rest of the cup with water...it was perfect for high blood pressure people like us)
2 1/2 T. natural sweetener or to taste (we used Xylitol, if you use Truvia, you may want to start off with less)
1 t. grated ginger

Combine sauce ingredients and set aside.  Stir-fry pork and onions in a small amount of olive oil until pork is almost cooked through.  Pour sauce over pork mixture and simmer for 5 minutes.  Gently stir in tofu cubes until they are well coated and warmed up.  Serve as is during Cruise or over quinoa, brown rice or red rice during Consolidation and Stabilization.

Add a cup of veggies like watercress, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, green beans, etc and no additional liquid.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Cuban Pork Stir Fry

Dukan Cuban Pork Stir Fry

We liked this recipe...it was a bit dry, had we not overcooked it, it probably would have tasted better. Cooking lean pork has always been a challenge for us. It's the, "gotta be sure it's cooked properly thing". We probably should've opted for chicken or beef since the male half of this couple tries not to each a whole lot of pork...but we have 2 or 3 other chicken recipes we wanted to try this weekend, so pork it was!

We did enjoy the flavors of this dish and it was very easy to make.  We found this recipe on La Cocina De Nathan which has a LOT of great Hispanic recipes.  The original recipe made by Nathan is a pork chop recipe but we decided to turn it into a stir fry.  We used less onions since the male half said he wouldn't have any.

We made this as an Attack/Cruise recipe, so we used our non-stick spray, but next time we will use some olive oil to cook the pork and onions.  We also trimmed the fat from our already very lean, thin pork chops...next time, we'll probably leave a little bit of the fat on to help keep the pork moist.   Nathan notes some of the garlic may burn, but it's fine for this dish.

RECIPE:
Serves 2 as a Pure Protein meal (or 4 with a side of brown rice)
Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Cook Time: 7-10 minutes

6 thin, lean pork chops, sliced into thin stir-fry pieces (remove as much fat as you want, note, you can cook your pork chops whole, you don't have to stir fry yours, be sure to cook your pork well)
4-5 garlic cloves, mashed into a paste using a mortar, garlic press or mini food processor
juice of 1 1/2 limes
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. kosher salt
1/2 red onion, sliced (optional, if you're ok with onions, the female half recommends you not leave them out)
juice of 1 lime (for onions)

Mash garlic with salt, cumin and lime juice (our garlic ended up minced due to lack of time and tools).  Rub mixture on pork.   Heat pan over high heat, spray some non-stick spray (or olive oil if you're using oil).  Note: If you are cooking your pork whole, use medium high heat, not high heat.  Cook pork until 75% done.  Set pork aside.  In same pan, add more spray (or oil) and add onions.  Saute until soft (we left ours a little crunchy since that's the way the female half likes her onions).  Deglaze pan with lime juice.  Add pork back in to heat everything up and serve after pork is cooked through.

The female half ate this as a Pure Protein meal and the male half had his with rice.

Enjoy!

Dukan Pork Chops Marsala

Pork Chops Marsala

We LOVED this!

Wow, we loved this so much we want to make this again...as in this week!   This week we found another recipe blog, the name caught our attention...Noble Pig...how could we not take a peek :-)  The woman who owns the blog also owns a vineyard called the Noble Pig.  We just couldn't wait to share this recipe with you...staying up late to blog about it!

A few great things about this recipe...it's delicious, we didn't have to change anything to make it fit our Dukan diet, it was easy and by the way, did we mention it's delicious?  The only thing we did change...the mushrooms.  As mentioned before, the male half of this couple doesn't like mushrooms...he doesn't like the "dirt" taste.  He will however eat straw mushrooms and other Japanese mushrooms...generally the ones grown above ground.

RECIPE:
Serves 3
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 13-15 minutes

6 thin cut, boneless pork chops, fat trimmed (ours were 1/4" thick, if you're using 1/2" thick, use 4 chops)
kosher salt and pepper to season pork chops prior to pan frying
3 t. olive oil, divided or non stick spray
1 can straw mushrooms or 1 pkg. cremini mushrooms (or button mushrooms)
1 lg. shallot, chopped (1/4 c.)
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 c. chicken broth
1/3 c. cooking marsala wine
1 t. cornstarch
1 t. water

Evenly season pork chops on both sides with salt and pepper.  Heat 2 t. olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Cook pork chops for approximately 5 minutes or until browned on the outside and slightly pink on the inside.  Remove from pan and keep warm.

In the same pan, heat 1 t. olive oil.  Add mushrooms, shallots and thyme.  Cook for approximately 5 minutes or until shallots are softened.  Add broth and wine to mixture and cook for approximately 2 minutes.  In the meantime, mix the cornstarch with the water.  Add cornstarch mixture to pan slowly while stirring.  Your gravy will thicken.  Pour gravy over pork chops and serve immediately.  We had our pork chops with jasmine brown rice and grilled asparagus.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Easy Chinese Pork Stir Fry

Easy Chinese Pork Stir Fry with Rice (his portion, mine = no rice)

We loved this recipe.

Happy New Year everyone!  The holidays are over and it's time for us to get back on Dukan.  For us, it'll happen next week :-)

This recipe was quick, easy, and tasty!  You can make this dish with or without veggies, with pork, beef, chicken, turkey or fish.  We took a simple Kung Pao sauce recipe and made some adjustments.  We actually made this before New Year's but haven't had much time to blog.

We were pigging out over the holidays and didn't have many PP days during the last three weeks of December.  Yike!  Decided a PP day was a must and luckily we had two lean, uncooked pork chops left from one of our other meals.  The two small pork chops were actually not quite enough for a PP meal for two people, so we are adjusting the recipe to make a meal for two.  If you're having this with brown rice or quinoa or adding a lot of bulk veggies like broccoli, two thick cut pork chops should be enough for two people.

RECIPE
Serves 2
Prep Time: 45 minutes (30 of those minutes are for marinating)
Cook Time: less than 10 minutes

3/4 - 1 lb. lean pork chops (no bone), thinly sliced (slice at an angle)
2 Thai red chili peppers or something similar (deseeded and cut into thin strips)
5 thin slices of fresh ginger (skin removed)
2 garlic cloves (we used minced since we have the Costco bottle or you can thinly slice your garlic)
1 stalk green onion, chopped (next time we'll probably do two inch strips)

Marinade:
3 t. cornstarch
2 t. soy sauce
1 T. Shaoxing rice wine or your choice of substitutes

Sauce:
1 1/2 T. soy sauce
1 t. natural sweetener
1/4 t. black vinegar (or regular white vinegar)
2 T. water
1 t. cornstarch

Rinse pork slices and pat dry.  Mix marinade ingredients, we usually mix ours in a ziploc baggie, then add meat, mix again (using your hands on the outside of the baggie), then refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Mix your sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.  Heat up a stir fry pan (high heat), spray a little bit of  non stick spray (we use a coated nonstick stir fry pan), cook marinated pork until 70% cooked.  Set aside.  Clean pan, spray with non stick spray again.  Add ginger and garlic to pan, stir fry for a few seconds, then add red chilies.  Stir fry until it is aromatic (about 20-30 seconds).  If your pan starts sticking, spray a little more non stick spray.  Add pork back to pan and continue to stir fry.  For a celebration meal or during consolidation, add cashew nuts or peanuts.  Add in sauce and continuously stir fry until pork is coated with sauce.  Turn heat off, add green onions, stir and serve immediately.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Miso Pork

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Good.
SHE SAID: Tasty.

Miso Pork

We decided to try another recipe from japanfoodaddict.com since we had some pork chop loins leftover from the other night and we have a tub of miso paste in the fridge.  We probably should save the miso recipes for Consolidation though.

We pretty much followed this recipe exact except we ran out of green onions.  We both found it to be tasty,  yet not too salty.  We only had 1/2 a pound of pork left, so this wasn't quite enough for the two of us...it's a good thing we were making twice baked potatoes for the male half of this couple!

This marinade can also be used for fish, beef, chicken and we're sure on veggies.  With a little tweaking, the marinade would probably make a nice miso salad dressing.

RECIPE:
Serves 1 on protein only days or 2 on protein/veggie days

1/2 lb. pork chop loin (fat removed) or any lean pork

Marinade:
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 green onion (chopped into 2" pieces)
2 t. shoyu (soy sauce)
1 T. sake
2 t. sugar
2 T. miso paste (we used no MSG added)
2 t. mirin
1/4 t. sesame oil (optional)

Mix marinade ingredients together.  Cut pork into 1" pieces or slices, place into a baggie, pour marinade in and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Spray your pan with a small bit of olive oil spray and fry pork over high heat for approx 5 minutes or until cooked.  This dish can be grilled also.

Dukan Japanese Pasta

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Very good, would eat again.
SHE SAID: Wow, it is better than I expected.

Japanese Pasta

We both love pasta, so thanks to Dukanitout.com for inspiring us to try Tofu Shirataki noodles (although we've eaten regular shirataki noodles pretty much all of our lives as part of Japanese meals but never thought about using it as a pasta substitute), we've been trying quite a few pasta type Dukan recipe.  The male half of this couple doesn't get excited about food, to him it's fuel.  However, he really liked this.  He said although he loves Italian pasta dishes, this was a nice change - light and flavorful.

We've both had Italian food in Japan and it is quite different.  Most of the dishes we've had in Japan are definitely lighter.  We've never seen lasagna or anything close to it in Japan (although we haven't travelled extensively throughout Japan, we have been there quite a few times in the past decade).

We found this recipe on japanfoodaddict.com and it sounded yummy.  We went through most of the recipes she's posted on that website and some of them we've eaten in Japan and loved and are easily Dukan'd if they aren't already.  We were going to use the spaghetti shaped noodles, but we didn't have time to run to the store last night and already had the angel hair shaped ones in the fridge.  Also, we were intending to buy the brown Japanese mushrooms, but the store was out, so we got the white ones which added no color to the dish.

RECIPE:
Serves 2
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

2 pkgs. House Brand Tofu Shirataki angel hair noodles (or spaghetti)
1 pkg.  Japanese mushrooms or 5-7 regular mushrooms sliced
1/2 lb. pork, sliced (we used lean pork loin chops with fat removed)
1/2 onion, diced (ok to slice, but the male half doesn't care for large pieces of onion)
1/4 c. green onion

Sauce ingredients:
3 T. sake
3 T. mirin (it does contain a small amount of sugar, but you can make your own too)
2 T. shoyu (soy sauce)
2 T. ponzu (we used fat and sugar free yuzu ponzu)
1 t. natural sweetener
1 t. kosher salt

Boil noodles in salty water for 5 minutes, then drain.  Do not rinse after boiling.  Mix all sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.  Spray pan with a small bit of olive oil spray and cook onion over high heat for approximately 4 minutes.  Add pork and stir fry another minute.  Add mushrooms and cook for two more minutes.  Add sauce and green onions, mix, then add pasta and toss.

Enjoy!

Dukan Pork Chops with Creamy Ponzu Sauce

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Not bad, prefer chicken or fish
SHE SAID: Great, doesn't taste the same without the butter, but it really didn't make that big of a difference.

Pork Chops with Creamy Ponzu Sauce

Years ago Hiroshi's Eurasian Tapas here in Honolulu served a simple, but great steak with a creamy ponzu sauce (citrusy soy based sauce).   It was so goooo.  They no longer have that dish on the menu, but the simple recipe is forever etched in our brains.  The original recipe calls for butter, but we omitted the butter and the sauce was still great.

There are actually several kinds of ponzu sauce and last night we found a no fat, no sugar Yuzu Ponzu Sauce at Marukai here in Honolulu produced by Kikkoman.  If you can't find Ponzu Sauce in a market near you, it's very easy to make.  Google 'Ponzu Sauce Recipe' and you'll have your choice of ponzu sauces to choose from, depends on what kind of taste you prefer.   Ponzu is very citrusy, so if you prefer a milder citrus taste, we would add more non-fat half-and-half to your sauce.

Yuzu Ponzu Sauce
by Kikkoman

Also, this sauce went well with beef, pork and we're sure it would go great with chicken and fish too.

RECIPE:
Serves 2, plus leftovers
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes (we have a small pan)

4 boneless pork loin chops, fat trimmed (we cut ours kind of like medallions for easier eating)
1/2 c. ponzu sauce
1/4 c. non-fat half-and-half
1 t. cornstarch
salt and pepper

Season pork chops and pan fry.  We used our non-stick pan and didn't need any oil or non-stick spray.  Place cooked pork chops on a plate and keep warm.  You'll want to have your sauce, half-and-half and cornstarch measured out since the sauce cooks quickly.  In the same pan (lower your heat), pour in your ponzu sauce and swirl around scrapping all the grease from the pork (which isn't a whole lot).  Swirl around for a couple of minutes.  Add some of the heated ponzu sauce to your non-fat half-and-half, mix and slowly add back to your pan.  Turn heat up and let simmer.  In the meantime, make a paste with your cornstarch using some of the ponzu cream sauce, then add to the pan and constantly stir until your sauce thickens.  Lower heat and add pork back in to heat pork up and serve.

Enjoy!

Dukan Creamy Chipotle Pork Tenderloin

RECIPE RATING:
HE SAID: Very good.
SHE SAID: Yum!

Creamy Chipotle Pork Medallions

Last weekend we made a fabulous Dukan Spicy Turkey Taco Casserole and had several leftover chipotle peppers from our can of chipotles in adobo sauce.   So we decided to make a Creamy Chipotle Pork Tenderloin to use up some chipotles.   Mmm.  We're looking forward to having the leftovers over a salad tomorrow.

If you have sensitive skin, wear gloves while working with spicy peppers.  If you don't like hot food but still enjoy the smokey flavor of chipotles, use less and remove as many seeds as you can.

RECIPE:
Serves 4 (or 2 with leftovers)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10-15 minutes

1 pork tenderloin, remove excess fat and cut into 1/4 inch medallions
2 chipotle in adobo sauce, sliced finely
2 t. adobo sauce from can of chipotles
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
lime zest of one half of a lime
2 t. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. dry white wine
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. kosher salt
black pepper
1/8 c. honey or sugar free maple syrup
1/4 c. non-fat half-and-half
1 c. fat free sour cream

Mix chipotle, adobo sauce, lime juice, zest, red wine vinegar, wine, garlic, cumin and kosher salt.  Season pork medallions with salt and pepper and pan fry in little bit of the chipotle sauce.  You don't want to use too much sauce since you want the pork to brown.  Don't overcook the pork, usually around 3 minutes per side should work, be sure the meat isn't pink anymore.  Remove pork medallions from pan and reduce heat.  Once the heat of the pan has dropped, slowly stir in the half-and-half, then the sour cream, then the honey or syrup.

Enjoy!