Pork with Strawberry Balsamic Sauce and Cucumber Salad

This meal is different, easy to make, delightfully tasteful, low in calories and fat, healthy, and very pretty. I think that this would be a good meal to make for guests in your home. It is so easy to like.   Who doesn't like a good pork chop every once in a while? And strawberries become a versatile topping in this meal. This recipe came about because I bought some pork sirloin chops on sale a few days ago and was trying to decide what to do with them. I had also bought fresh strawberries.  They are in season and I have seen them all over the grocery stores lately. Well, both of them were sitting in my fridge so I decided to try strawberries and pork together. I looked up a few pork and strawberry recipes and then came up with my own variation. I served it along with a summery cucumber salad which is also incredibly easy and very low in fat. I felt the result of my experiment was absolutely delicious and worth sharing. 

Hope you Enjoy......

Pork and Strawberries:

2 - 4 Pork boneless sirloin steaks (this is what I used, feel free to switch to bone in if you prefer)

1 1/2 cups of fresh strawberries, sliced

1 Tbsp of fresh rosemary, chopped

4 Tbsp of reduced fat raspberry vinaigrette 

2 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

1. Salt and pepper the pork steaks on both sides. Pan fry over medium high heat for about five minutes on each side, or until the meat has a golden crust and is cooked through. 
2. Remove meat from pan and put on a plate. Tent with aluminum foil and set aside. 
3. Whisk together the raspberry vinaigrette, balsamic vinegar, and rosemary in a bowl. Pour into the pan that you cooked the pork in. Over low heat, deglaze the pan and let the sauce reduce. 
4. Add strawberries to the sauce. Cook over low heat until the strawberries are warm. Do not leave them on the heat for too long or they will become mushy. You only want the strawberries to be heated through as they mix with the sauce. 
5. Pour strawberry sauce over the pork. 

 Cucumber Salad:
2 cucumbers, peeled and cut into bit size pieces
3 Tbsp of white wine vinegar
Zest from one lemon
Juice from half of a lemon
1 tsp of dill
1 tsp of sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Put cucumber in a salad bowl and top with all other ingredients. Toss together. 
2. Serve alongside the pork with strawberry sauce and a roasted red potato. 

Enjoy!

Beet Salad with Sweet Italian Sausage served over Fettuccine

Beets! What an amazing vegetable.  Beets are low in calories, high in fiber, have tons of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, and are yummy to boot.  They have a gorgeous bright burgundy color and you can use them in so many different ways. Beets are unique because they are a very hearty vegetable that can be used as a side dish or as a main dish! They can be served cold or hot, winter or summer.  I made it a salad with orange and mustard dressing and feta cheese to top it off.

I paired the beats with a extremely simple pasta dish. Sweet Italian sausage served over fettuccine with parmesan cheese. hmm. Seriously, can life get any better than pasta, sausage and cheese? I think not.

Here's how I did it:


Beet Salad:
2 whole beats - boil whole until tender (about 20-25 min). peel skin off with a pearing knife
1/4 cup of crumbled feta cheese
1 orange
1 Tbsp of coarse ground mustard
1/4 cup of white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp of olive oil
Salt and pepper
handful of fresh italian parsley - coarsely chopped.

1. Cut the beets into large bite size pieces. Place in a serving bowl and zest the peel from the orange over the beets. 
2. In a separate bowl combine the mustard, and vinegar. Take the orange and cut it in half and juice it into the bowl. Whisk in the olive oil. Add salt and pepper. 
3. Pour dressing over the beats and mix gently. Top off the salad with feta cheese and parsley. 

Sausage and Fettuccine:

1/2 pound of fettuccine

2-4 Sweet italian sausages

1/4 cup of graded parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook fettuccine according to package instructions. Drain.  Drizzle with 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Mix gently so the pasta does not stick together. Add cheese and mix gently. Be sure to add the cheese while the fettuccine is still hot. It will melt into the pasta. 
2. In a frying pan, cook the room temperature sausages. Put about 1/4 inch of water in the bottom of the frying pan and place the sausage in the pan over medium high heat. drizzle 1 Tbsp of the remaining olive oil over the sausage. Turn occasionally until the water evaporates and the sausage is cooked through with a nice golden color. 
3. Once Sausage is done cooking, Slice diagonally into thin strips and serve over the fettuccine. 
4. Add salt and coarse black pepper to taste. 

Enjoy!