Recipe #9: Caribbean-Style Pork

I was flipping through one of the many cookbooks that I own and doing a new test - if there is nothing in here that I want to cook now or in the immediate future, why do I own this book? And luckily for this book, there was a few! First up - a taste of the Caribbean!!

Pork tenderloin is the base for this dish and an interesting combination of flavours that I never had while I was in the Caribbean - but sounded like they would work out all right. I'm a fan of one pot dinners if I'm using a slow cooker so next time I make this, I'll probably throw some more vegetables besides pepper in - and yes, I will definitely make this again! Cookbook stays!

And because I am a nervous crockpot user at the best of times, I couldn't figure out how all the veggies and pork were going to "stew" together. I might have added about 1/2 cup of pineapple juice to start things off! Knowing what I know now, I probably would skip that step - the juices showed up and stewed everything beautiful, and the pineapple flavour either didn't stick around or was lost by the strength of the other flavours.

Ingredients

2 lbs lean boneless center-cut pork loin roast
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups chopped red bell pepper
6 green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
cooking spray
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 tsp cumin seed, crushed
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 1/2 cups hot cooked basmatic rice
2 tbsp diagnoally sliced creen onions

Instructions

1. Trim fat from roast; cut roast into 1-inch pieces. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add pork; saute 5 minutes or until browned.
2. Place pork, bell pepper, and green onions in a 4 quart electric slow coker coated with cooking spray; stir well.
3. Combine hoisin sauce and next 7 ingredients in a small bowl; stir until well blended. Pour mixture over pork; stir well.
4. Cover with lid; cook on high-heat setting 1 hour. Reduce to low-heat setting and cook 5 to 6 hours. Serve over rice; sprinkle with green onions.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Sincerely xoxo