Poached Pork w/ Roasted Spring Vegetables

I have been eating the same thing for lunch and dinner (mac n' cheese and leftover orzo) for 2.5 days so I was determined to cook something up tonight. It is really hard to get motivated to cook for one (Peter's in Chicago visiting family) and I have really forgotten what that's like. TGIF because I got to go to Haymarket (yippee) and picked up some fun vegetables like cauliflower, summer squash, haricots verts, and portobello mushrooms with so much dirt on it, I swear it came straight from the ground to the stand. Not like that's so hard to believe or anything... but I wanted to add emphasis. I am really against rinsing mushrooms but with these fun guys, I really had to. Get it? :D

After 2.5 days of pure white carb and no real greens, I knew I had to feed my body something better. On top of that, heading to VN soon means I need to work on getting into really good shape ASAP. So it made me glad that my Slow Flow Yoga was canceled tonight because I took another class instead, Rebound, and oh boy - 30 minutes of intense cardio got me feeling like my stomach turned inside out. I haven't felt that way since my days of learning to swim laps. The good part was that I was not hungry at all after I got out and still wasn't hungry even while cooking up dinner. And who says working out is not a good way to lose weight?!!?

Now go set you oven to 400 degrees - roasted.

In a medium size pot, add 2 cups of water, 1/2 cup of white wine or white cooking wine (optional), few sprigs of rosemary (use more or less depending on your rosemary preference), 2 pieces of sun-dried tomatoes, 4-5 olives, 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp of paprika, 1/2 tsp of salt, and a pinch of ground allspice. Turn to a medium heat (5-6).

I used a half pound of semi-lean pork. Use whatever you have... chicken would work just as well. Cook for about 20 minutes.



In the mean time, prep your vegetables.



Wash and cut your summer squash into nice chunks at an angle by turning your knife each time you cut. If not, just cut into whatever kind of chunks that make you happy. :)



Wedge an apple then cut the wedges in half the short way.



Deflower (?) a cauliflower. I hate cutting this thing so I usually flip it over and cut it off all the stalks first. Then I cut the thing in half right down the middle and break it apart with my hands.



I trim the leaves off the stalks and slice them up to cook too. Why not?!



Sorry, no picture here, but wash and cut off the ends of your HVs or green beans.

Also, no picture either, but clean and slice up your portobello mushrooms into 1/2 inch pieces.


Mix 3 T of olive oil + 3 T of balsamic vinaigrette.



Pour it over the vegetables and mix well. Looking good.



Spread it on a baking sheet and pop it in the oven for 20 minutes.



After 20 minutes on the stove, the poach looks good. Remove the pork and let it rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.



And after 20 minutes in the oven, oh la la... my apartment smells awesome.



Serve it with some ground pepper and wedge of lemon. So filling and refreshing!

You can still see the steam... it's so good. The apples added a nice sweetness to this dish.



I served myself some more mac n' cheese. Hey, just getting myself ready for 9:30 AM Body Defined class tomorrow. YEAH!