Friday, July 31, 2009

Ground Pork Stir Fry

Some of my greatest dinners come sometimes from getting an idea for dinner, and then straying 100% away from it and making something else. Last night, I knew I had a beautiful large zucchini at home that would be perfect for stuffed zucchini. I started to imagine a ground chicken stuffing in it, and from there started to make my shopping list, but as I continued to think I realised that it was just too hot out to turn on the oven, so instead I thought, why not just a stir fry with ground chicken and lots of veggies-and some spice- I wanted something spicy.
So I got to the store last night, and started picking up what looked good- an avocado, some beautiful vine ripened tomatoes, a red chili pepper- the name escapes me but it was touted as hotter than a Jalapeno, and they were out of my usual Serrano peppers, cilantro, a green bell pepper....and then I walked to the meat section. They were out of ground chicken. I was utterly confused. I stood holding my produce...and then I spied ground pork. Not quite the same-but it might work. Finally, I picked up some Orange Juice and checked out.
As I made my way home, I had an idea for what I was making-some type of Mexican themed stir fry- thank god it was just me for dinner last night! I started by chopping some red onion, and letting it sweat in a small fry pan on the stove, with the red pepper, over medium/low heat. Then I chopped a handful of cilantro, and added about a third of that, with a little bit of salt to the pan as well. Once those had melded together, I added the ground pork and left that to cook with the other flavors, stirring occasionally.

In the meantime, I chopped half an avocado, and three quarters of a tomato, mixed them together with a little cilantro, and then added just a couple spoonfuls of a tomatillo salsa I had in my fridge. It was my lazy mans salsa because it was just too hot to get more creative.

Once the pork was cooked, I drained off the excess fat in the pan, and then I added the chopped tomato. Finally, I added maybe just about a 1/4 of a cup of orange juice to the pan as well. I allowed that cook down a bit, and then added several handfuls of baby spinach to the mixture. Then, just as I was about to pull it off the heat, I tossed in a handful of chopped green pepper. Stirred to get them warm, and then pulled it from the heat before they lost their crunch.

I served this on a plate, with some of my lazy salsa spooned over the top, and then fresh cilantro to finish it.

The result was a really fun combination of flavors, between the spicy and the sweet of the orange juice, the crunch of the peppers with the soft avocado. I do wish that

the red pepper had been a bit hotter, as it provided a nice background of heat, but not quite the kick I had wanted. Otherwise it was a really delicious and filling meal. In the future, when I make it again I think Ill add some beans to it, maybe some mushrooms as well- and really bulk up the veggie count.


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