Balsamic Pork with Olives : Mid-week Meal

Pork can make a nice mid-week meal, and is usually reasonably priced. If you've had a busy day you may not want to spend too long in the kitchen cooking dinner, so this recipe suggestion - ready in about 20 minutes - may be just what you are looking for!

Ingredients

Serves Four

3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 boneless pork loin chops
2 handfuls green olives, pitted and halved
large handful basil, chopped
Method
1. Mix the oil with vinegar, mustard and garlic. Score the meat on both sides, season, then put into a dish. Pour over the balsamic mixture and leave to marinate for 5 mins

2. Heat a griddle pan until very hot. Lift the pork from the marinade, scraping off any garlic, then cook for 4/5 mins on each side. Remove the meat and keep warm. Pour the marinade into the pan with the olives, cook for 2 mins, then stir in the basil. Pour any juices from the pork into the pan, drizzle the sauce over the pork and serve.

Nutrition Per Serving

Fat 41g Protein 27g Carbs 2g

From an original recipe here

Serving suggestions

please note - these are not included in nutrition figures above, if you are diabetic best to choose a lower carb serving suggestion and not the pasta! 

Mashed Swede/Rutabaga, Courgetti, Broccoli, Cauliflower Cheese, Green bean salad, Pasta, 

Did you know

"True Balsamic vinegar is an artisan product from Modena, in Emilia Romagna, Italy, and is made with grape must (juice) that is simmered to make a concentrate, allowed to ferment, then, for a minimum of 12 years, matured in barrels of progressively decreasing size, made from different woods in order to impart different flavours. The result is dark, rich and syrupy and to be used very sparingly.

The real thing will be marked with 'tradizionale' and/or DOC and will be expensive. But, you can also buy the more affordable, industrially made 'aceto balsamico di Modena', which uses vinegar as well as grape must; as it's not aged for so long, the flavours won't be as strong. 

Choose the best

For the real deal, always look for the trems tradizionale/DOC or aceto balsamico di Modena. Very cheap balsamic vinegars are just masquerading as either of the above and will have been coloured and flavoured with caramel - although they're fine for salad dressings and glazes, they won't have the authentic intensity of flavour. 

Store it

In a cool, dark cupboard."

Above words taken from article here

Dear reader, not all the food and recipes ideas featured in this blog may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter.

All the best Jan