This week, I made a new recipe. I actually got the recipe from a little brochure put out by the American Heart Association for kid friendly meals that I picked up way back when we went to the Wildlife Expo. I tweaked it quite a bit, to suit our family's tastes...but here goes...
Teriyaki Pork Noodles
1 tsp. canola oil
1 1/2 lb. boneless pork chops (trimmed of all fat)
1 large red pepper
12 baby carrots
6 green onions
1/2 a large bag of frozen sugar snap peas (12 oz.)
1/2 a bag of frozen broccoli
3 c. chicken broth
8 oz. spaghetti
1/2 c. teriyaki sauce (which I didn't have, so I made my own using a recipe I found online)
Step One: Slice the red pepper, carrots, and green onions. I left the green onion in about 1-2" pieces. Then, set aside.
See that bowl up at the top of the picture? I call it my garbage bowl. I wanna be like Rachel Ray. She always has a garbage bowl. It saves me a lot of trips back and forth to the garbage can while cooking. And what's one more bowl to wash, right?
Step Two: Cut the pork into 1/2-3/4" cubes, then set aside. I like to cut any kind of meat (pork, chicken, steak) when it's still slightly frozen. It's so much easier.
(yes, I used the same cutting board, but I washed it first, promise.)
Step Three: Break the uncooked spaghetti noodles into 2-3" pieces. Carefly, they like to fly every which direction. lol.
Oh, and a note about this pasta...I buy it because it has a lot more fiber in it which equals a lot fewer Weight Watcher points and it really tastes great!
Step Four: Heat a large deep skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. Add the pork. The original recipe called to 'brown' it. Mine never got brown. *shrugs* So I just cooked it for about 3-4 minutes.
Step Five: Add the carrots and red peppers to skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes. At this point, I realized my pan was not going to be big enough, so I changed to a larger one before continuing.
Step Six: Add the chicken broth, teriyaki sauce, and noodles. Bring up to a boil, reduce the heat, and cover.
You're going to let this simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occassionally, until the noodles are tender. Now would be a good time to attack the sinkful of dishes...lol.
Step Seven: When the noodles are tender, but not mushy, Add the sugar snap peas and broccoli. I actually forgot to mention that I steamed my broccoli already, simply because it was in one of those 'steam in the bag' packages. So I didn't add my broccoli at this point...
Step Eight: After the peas and broccoli have defrosted a bit, probably 2-3 minutes, go ahead and add the green onions (and broccoli, if you're backwards like me).
Stir in all together, gently, and allow to cook for 3-5 more minutes, just until the broccoli and peas are heated completely through and the green onions have wilted a bit. That's it...you're done. Isn't it colorful!
But just as a side note...I thought the sauce was a bit thin at first. But since I made this in the morning and we weren't eating it until dinner, I let it be. The noodles soaked up a lot of the extra yumminess while hanging out in the fridge all day. I suppose you could always mix a bit of cornstarch with cold water, add it to the pan, and thicken it that way. Or even easier yet, maybe reduce the chicken broth to 2 1/2 c. instead of 3. I actually like it sitting in the fridge all day. More flavorful, I think.
And what love most about this dish...it's adaptable to whatever you like. Add or subtract veggies. Use chicken instead of pork..or even no meat at all. Anything goes.
Oh, and for all you weight watchers out there, I figured this to be about 8 servings at 6 pts. each. :)
