Impressive Pork Tenderloin with Tomatoes & Green Olives

Originally an Atkins recipe, this pork tenderloin recipe has been dubbed "Impressive Pork Tenderloin" because it never fails to impress dinner guests. It's also low-carb for health-conscious types. I just add garlic bread on the side ;)



Impressive Pork Tenderloin with Tomatoes & Green Olives

Prep: 30 min
Cook: 30-45 min (until thermometer reaches 160 degress)
Serves: 6
Oven Temp: 400
Nutrition Info: See the bottom of the post

Ingredients:

2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup sliced green olives & their juice

1/4 cup dry white wine OR reduced sodium chicken broth

1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/2 tsp dried)

2 garlic cloves, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

2 whole pork tenderloins OR 1 small pork loin (2 lbs total)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth (I actually didn't have chicken broth last night and used beef broth, I liked it just as well)
2 tsp cornstarch

Directions:

1. Combine tomatoes, olives, white wine, rosemary and garlic.

2. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat oil in a heavy oven-proof skillet (cast iron works too) over medium heat until hot. Sprinkle pork loin with salt & pepper, then brown the pork on all sides, for about 5 minutes total. The more brown you have on your pork now, the tastier it will be later.

3. Add tomato mixture. Insert an oven-proof meat themometer into the thickest part of the pork, and place skillet in the oven. Bake for about 30 (if using tenderloin) to 45 minutes (if using the thicker pork loin like in these pictures) until the themometer reaches 160 degrees.
4. Remove pork from the skillet to rest and cover it to keep it warm.

5. Place skillet over medium heat and add remaining broth and thickener. Bring mix to a boil then reduce heat and simmer slightly until it's thickened. Serve tomato-olive sauce over the pork.
6. LEFTOVERS: dish the rest of the sauce over remaining slices of pork, cover and refrigerate.

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Atkins says...

If you use ThickenThin Not Starch Thickener instead of cornstarch, this recipe has the following nutrition info:

Carbs: 2 grams

Net Carbs: 1 gram

Fiber: 1 gram

Protein: 25 grams

Fat: 7 grams

Calories: 185

Tandoori Chicken & Flash-Fried Chickpeas

Robin Miller from the Food Network is my "real life" cooking hero. She cooks meals my household will actually eat, and uses leftovers to make whole new meals out of. This recipe comes from her book Robin's Rescues Dinner that I picked up from the library. It uses totally different flavors from what I normally cook, was EASY and turned out great. Creamy sauce and nutty-tasting chickpeas. Mmmmmm. I could have used the leftovers for another recipe but...there was none left!

Tandoori Chicken & Flash-Fried Chickpeas

Prep: 15 min.
Cook: 25-30 min.
Serves: 4-6
Oven Temp: 400

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt & pepper
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger*
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp curry powder or garam masala
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp olive oil
1 15-0z can chickpeas, drained
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Coat a shallow roasting pan with cooking spray.

2. Season the chicken breast halves all over with salt & pepper and place in the prepared pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, cumin, curry powder and chili powder. Spoon the mixture all over the chicken in the pan.

3. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and no longer pink on the inside.

4. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chickpeas and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Season to taste with salt & pepper.

5. Serve chicken and chickpeas together.

6. LEFTOVERS: WHAT leftovers??

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*How to Prepare Fresh Ginger

Do NOT be intimidated by using fresh ginger. It looks a little scary the first time you work with it, but you'll soon learn it's easy to use and well worth the extra work. Here are some quick tips:

--Pick up a small root from the produce section at your grocery store. It's usually by other "ethnic" ingredients.

--A small root is PLENTY for Tandoori Chicken. If you know you'll be using the ingredient again soon you can get a bigger root and cut off a small piece for this dish. I've found that it will save just fine for a few weeks.

--Shave off the rough outer layer of the root with a sharp paring knife or peeler, similar to a carrot.

--Dice like normal. The texture is similar to an uncooked sweet potato, with enough give that it's easy to slice and dice.

This recipe is not as flavorful as it should be without fresh ginger. Good luck and have fun!

Asparagus & Shrimp Pasta Bowl

At the grocery store and at a loss for something to fix for dinner that night, I picked up a package of Arctic Shores tail-on uncooked shrimp. This recipe was on the back of the package - not only was it a huge hit for dinner but it was EASY.

Asparagus & Shrimp Pasta Bowl

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 20 min
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

12 oz. linguine pasta
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
14 oz. frozen medium tail-on uncooked shrimp (I used Arctic Shores, 1 package)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper (I don't have the white in the house often and substituted for plain black pepper - did just fine.)
1 cup half & half
1 med. tomato, diced (or...1 10-oz can of diced tomato)
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese (or double if you like Parm. like I do!)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to the directions on the package.

2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic, shrimp, asparagus, salt & pepper. Saute until shrimp is opaque and asparagus is tender (about 5 min.).

3. Stir in half & half; bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat to low and simmer 4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, basil and pasta; toss to coat pasta.

5. Transfer to a serving platter and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Garnish with basil, if desired.

LEFTOVERS: Package in individual containers for terrific lunches the next day.