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Raspberry Rubbed Pork with Apples and Berries

When I eat meat, I like to do it right.  I go organic, free-range, and lean (okay… not always lean). On Memorial Day I picked up 12 ounces of pork sirloin from Whole Foods to grill for dinner.  I’ve seen a few recipes for meat + fruit recently (adding blueberries to burgers?  I’m game!) and I wanted to try it out. I also recently bought a cast-iron grill pan from Williams Sonoma that I’ve been dying to use.

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So I also got raspberries and blueberries, and this is what happened…

(I bet you could do this with firm tofu too if you want a vegetarian version!)

Raspberry Rubbed Pork with Apples and Berries

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Ingredients (serves 2-3)

  • 12 ounces of pork sirloin, sliced thinly (I sliced each piece in half – there were 2 originally – so that they would cook faster and not get dry, which pork likes to do)
  • meat rub (I used an organic one from Costco – you could also just use whatever random spices you have)
  • 7-8 raspberries
  • 1 apple, sliced (I bet a peach or nectarine would be good too)
  • handful of blueberries (optional)
  • grill pan OR a grill OR just a regular saute pan

Directions

  1. Rub the pork with the meat rub.  Smash the raspberries and rub the pork with them.
  2. Heat your grill to medium-high heat.  Spray with olive oil or nonstick cooking spray.  Grill the apple slices on each side for 2-3 minutes.  I threw in a few blueberries too; they got soft and sweet.  Remove the fruit.
  3. Place the pork on the grill pan and cook on each side for about 3-4 minutes.  (I covered it for the first half and uncovered it for the second side.)  As soon as it’s cooked through, remove it from the heat.
  4. Eat with the grilled fruit – I like eating a piece of pork and a piece of apple at the same time.

I served it with a salad, garlic bread, and followed it with healthy apple pie.  The flavor of the pork was great – the raspberries made it slightly sweet, but the rub toned it down.  It was tender and juicy.  Apples + pork is one of my favorite food combinations, and the raspberry was fun too.

What’s your favorite savory & sweet combination?

(Back later with a Whole Life Challenge update and a sweet award…)

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Memorial Day and Challenge Recap

I had a wonderful long weekend with Bobby.  On Saturday we lounged.  On Sunday we lounged again.  Yesterday we went to Santana Row, a snazzy road in San Jose with lots of expensive shops.  I got a cute pair of capris from Anthropologie.  They’re blue and white stripes.  I used to have a pair of pants just like them from Gap, but they don’t fit anymore and I have no idea where they are (New Jersey?).

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This was his and hers breakfast on Sunday.  Bobby can be healthy too!  Mine is green oat bran (just oat bran, fresh peanut butter from Whole Foods, salt, vanilla, and spinach).  Bobby’s is white rice with natto (fermented soybean).  He loves natto; I think it’s disgusting.

I made a rather intricate meal last night for our holiday dinner.  I have been eyeing these recipes for about a week, trying to come up with my own take on them (fruit + meat).  So yesterday at Whole Foods I bought about 12 ounces of fresh organic pork sirloin to try something out.  Recipes will follow soon…

Raspberry-Rubbed Pork with apples and berries

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Berry Delicious Salad

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Unpictured was some Garlic Bread topped with parmesan cheese…

And Apple-Raspberry Pie (macrobiotic, vegan, no sugar).

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The whole meal was fun to prepare and eat.  After the meal we went out to the hot tub for a little while to relax.

Challenge update! All of the participants (comment to let me know if you should be added):

Overall I’ve been doing well with the challenge.

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  1. Yoga – I did 10 minutes of yoga on Sunday after a walk; down dog, frogs, stretching, headstand.  I didn’t do yoga yesterday but I’ll try to make it up today.
  2. Walking – On Sunday I did 4.26 miles in about 55 minutes on the treadmill (incline 2%).  A little bit was running, but mostly walking.  Yesterday Bobby and I walked Santana Row for about 2 hours, then walked around in Whole Foods for another hour.  I didn’t do any planned exercise yesterday aside from that.  I want to do more of this unplanned exercise.  I had a really nice time.
  3. New Meal – nothing new on Sunday (okay because this is a weekly thing) but yesterday I had two new things – the raspberry pork as well as the macrobiotic pie.
  4. Organic – I’ve been using my organic baby spinach from Costco!  I’ve already used about 1.5 pounds since Saturday… good thing I got 3 pounds (3 big containers).
  5. Green Oat Bran – of course!  Sunday’s (above) and Monday’s were both with just peanut butter (+ salt and vanilla, as always).  Today’s was with peanut butter and some of a fresh batch of banana-tofu pudding.

I’m really happy with the challenge so far.  I’ve learned a lot about my habits and my limits, and I think it’s going to help me maintain that Whole Life Balance that I want.  I hope it’s working for you too.

Have you ever attempted something, only to realize that it just wasn’t the right thing for you at the time?

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Awesome Macrobiotic Apple-Raspberry Pie

This recipe for apple pie is a far cry from the buttery, sugary goodness that my Grammie serves up each year at Thanksgiving… but it’s different in a good way!  Bobby and I both loved the flavors and textures of this unsweetened-yet-strangely-traditional apple pie.  I hope you try it out, because it’s really delicious.

The inspiration comes from Meg’s blog – she recently posted this recipe for apple pie.  I made a smaller and slightly different version.

Macrobiotic Apple-Raspberry Pie (Unsweetened)

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Ingredients – crust

  • 1/2 cup oat bran (or whole wheat flour)
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons cold water

Ingredients – filling

  • 3 medium apples, sliced up
  • 1 cup water
  • dash of salt
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • a few raspberries
  • 2 teaspoons corn starch

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375F.  Mix together the oat bran, flour, and salt.  Add the oil and lightly mix with a fork.  Add 1 tablespoon of water at a time, keeping the dough slightly crumbly.  Put it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes.
  2. Spray a small pie dish with non-stick cooking spray (or olive oil).  Pour in about 3/4 of the crumbly dough and mush it down to make the crust.  Reserve the remaining dough.  Cook at 375F for 15 minutes.  After you take it out, turn the oven temperature down to 350F.
  3. To make the filling, boil the water, apple slices, salt, and lemon juice for about 6-7 minutes or until the apples tart getting soft.  Drain the apples (save the water!) and set aside.  Return the water to medium heat.  Mash the raspberries and add them to the water.  Then slowly add the corn starch.  Continue to stir until the mixture starts to thicken (5-7 minutes probably).
  4. Put the apples into the cooled pie crust (wait at least 5 minutes after taking it out of the oven).  Pour the thickened water mixture evenly over the top of the apples and crust.  Crumble the remaining dough (uncooked) over the apples and top with a few more raspberries.
  5. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes.

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I enjoyed mine topped with more raspberries and some fresh blueberries.  Bobby did the same.  The entire pie is almost gone and it only came out of the oven an hour ago!  Even though it has no added sweetener, the fruit has enough sweetness of its own – I really can’t describe how awesome this pie is.  You just have to make it.

I will do an actual update of the Whole Life Challenge tomorrow (it’s going well!)… I’m trying to make the most of the little free time that Bobby and I get to spend together.  Tonight’s plans – hot tub and hookah!  Feel free to comment on this post with your Whole Life Challenge updates and I’ll include them in my post tomorrow.

Make sure to check out Sophia’s blog for the next Blogger Secret Ingredient!  She’s giving away some adorable prizes 🙂

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BSI Winner!

The Blogger Secret Ingredient for this week was kabocha (Japanese pumpkin) and I had some wonderful entries:

I asked Bobby to help me pick the winner, and this week’s winner is…

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Michelle, with Oven-Roasted Fusion Kabocha!  (My mom actually commented that this looked amazing and incredibly gourmet – she reads the blog.)  Go make her recipe!

Thank you so much for all of the creative entries.  I’m passing on the BSI to the only person that might love kabocha more than me (well, I’m pretty sure she loves it at least as much): Sophia @ Burp and Slurp~.  Check in on her blog for the next Blogger Secret Ingredient announcement!

The Whole Life Challenge continues… check back in tomorrow for an update.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day!  Take a moment to remember our fallen troops.

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Whole Life Challenge: Day 2

Just a quick challenge update because I want to get back to watching Shakespeare In Love with my sweetie. We just watched the game (LA v. Denver) so now I get to pick what we watch (when I saw I “watched” the game, I mean that Bobby watched and I read my new book, Bridget Jones’s Diary).

This morning we went to the farmers’ market in Sunnyvale, and I picked up my new food for the day (not that I need to have a new food each day – it’s by the week, but I figured I might as well go all out): Peppercorn Mousse (“a creamy and spicy combination of chicken liver & duck flavored with black peppercorns“).

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Yes, that’s a type of pâté – I talked about my love of pâté in this post.  The mousse is from a local company called Fabrique Délices.  The mousse is all-natural, pork-free, and fully cooked.

Whole Life Challenge Day 2…

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  1. Yoga – I did 10 minutes (barely) of yoga-like stretching after my walk today.  Down-dogs, frog pose, runner’s lunge, and a few sun A’s.
  2. Walking – 4.4 miles in 60 minutes (I ran slowly at 4.6 mph for part of it; walking got boring); 2% incline.  We also walked around at the farmers’ market for 20 minutes or so (at an ambling pace).
  3. New Meal – the mousse! (above)  I also decided to have green oats for dinner, which I’ve never done.  I have them often for breakfast and lunch, but never dinner.
  4. Organic – I finished off the last of my non-organic spinach with my second bowl of oats today; I’ll start using my organic baby spinach (thanks, Costco) tomorrow.
  5. Green oat bran – yes, 2 bowls!  Breakfast was with almond butter (fresh from WF) and dinner was with peanut butter (fresh from WF).  I’m really liking the simplicity of oats + nut butter.  It’s filling and delicious.  No need for sweeteners.

How’d you do on day 2?  Here’s a list of participants (let me know if I need to add you!).

(P.S. Don’t forget about the Blogger Secret Ingredient, kabocha! Check this post to see if I have your entry yet.  You have until tomorrow – Sunday – night to enter.)