Pork in port wine with barley and broccoli rabe
Juicy pork tenderloin cut into medallions and sauteed in a rich port wine sauce is a dinner that can be a special holiday time meal or a quick weekday dinner.
Ketchup in the sauce is the secret ingredient. Thick tomato sauce has been used in French cooking for many years. It gives just the right amount of sweet and savory flavor and texture to the port-based sauce.
Helpful hints:
■ Sherry can be used instead of port.
■ Look for washed, readyto-eat arugula (also called roquet) in the produce section.
Countdown:
■ Prepare ingredients.
■ Start the barley and broccoli rabe
■ Make pork dish.
Shopping list:
To buy: 3/4 pound pork tenderloin, 1 small bottle port wine, 1 bottle dried thyme, 1 package quick cooking barley, 1/2 pound broccoli rabe
Staples: olive oil, fatfree, low-salt chicken broth, ketchup, salt, black peppercorns.
PORK IN PORT WINE
Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer
1/2 cup fat-free, low-salt
chicken broth 2 tablespoons ketchup 3/4 pound pork tenderloin 1 teaspoon olive oil Salt and freshly ground
black pepper
1/2 cup port wine 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Mix chicken broth and ketchup together and set aside. Remove visible fat from pork and cut into 1-inch slices. Heat olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and brown 3 minutes.
Turn and brown 3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to cooked sides to taste. Lower heat to medium and cook 5 minutes. A meat thermometer should read 160 degrees. Remove to 2 dinner plates. Add the port to the skillet and bring to a boil, scraping up the brown bits as it boils for about 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth and ketchup and cook about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with thyme. Spoon sauce over pork.
Yield 2 servings.
Per serving: 293 calories, 55 calories from fat, 6.1 g total fat, 1.5 g saturated fat, 3 g monounsaturated fat, 108 mg cholesterol, 392 mg sodium, 8.5 g carbohydrate, 0.3 dietary fiber, 0 g sugars, 36.9 g protein
Exchanges: 1/2 carbohydrate, 5 lean meat, 1/2 alcohol
BARLEY AND BROCCOLI RABE
Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer
5 1/2 cups broccoli rabe, stems trimmed (1/2 pound)
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup quick cooking barley 2 teaspoons olive oil Salt freshly ground black pepper
Cut off thick broccoli rabe stems and discard. Cut broccoli rabe into 1-inch pieces. Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add broccoli and barley. Bring back to a boil, lower heat to medium-high, cover and cook10 minutes. Water will be absorbed. Add olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.
Yield 2 servings.
Per serving: 24 calories, 51 calories from fat, 5.6 g total fat, 0.8 g saturated fat, 3.4 g monounsaturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 41 mg sodium, 42.1 g carbohydrate, 10.9 g dietary fiber, 0.8 sugars, 8.5 g protein Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 vegetable,
1 fat
Linda Gassenheimer is the author, most recently, of "The 12-Week Diabetes Cookbook," "Delicious OnePot Dishes" and "Quick and Easy Chicken." Her website is dinnerinminutes.com. Follow her on Twitter @lgassenheimer.