Navigation
Making you hungry for healthy food!
Subscribe to monthly Cook It Quick newsletter | Archives | Tips | Recipe Central
Speedy Pork Cassoulet
Printer-friendly PDF copy of the recipe for four
Alice Henneman, MS, RD, UNL Extension in Lancaster County
Original recipe serves 4
Enjoy the health benefits of pork, dried beans and tomatoes in this recipe. Through changes in feeding and breeding techniques, today's pork has 31 percent less fat than 20 years ago with many cuts as lean as skinless chicken. Beans, such as the Great Northern beans in this recipe, can help reduce the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers. The lycopene in the tomatoes may help protect against such diseases as cancer and heart disease.
Use the technique of mis en place (measuring out all your ingredients at once) to quickly assemble this recipe. The original recipe serves 4 and easily adapts to make a single serving, as shown here. Check here for additional tips on reducing recipes to serve smaller numbers of people.
| FOR YOUR FAMILY NUMBER | FOR ONE | FOR FOUR | INGREDIENTS |
| Scant teaspoon | 1 tablespoon | Vegetable oil | |
| 1/2 | 2 | Medium onion(s), chopped | |
| 1 small | 2 | Clove(s) garlic, crushed | |
| 1 | 3 | Boneless pork chop(s), cut into 3/4-inch cubes | |
| 1/2 | 2 | 15-ounce can(s) Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained | |
| 3 tablespoons | 3/4 cup | Chicken broth | |
| 1 tablespoon PLUS 1 teaspoon | 1/3 cup | Chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained | |
| 1/4 teaspoon | 1 teaspoon | Dried rosemary, crushed | |
| 1/4 teaspoon | 1 teaspoon | Dried thyme, crushed | |
| dash | 1/4 teaspoon | Salt | |
| dash | 1/4 teaspoon | Black pepper | |
| 1 tablespoon | 1/4 cup | Chopped parsley | |
| 1 tablespoon | 1/4 cup | Seasoned breadcrumbs |
- Heat oil in a deep saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook and stir onions and garlic until tender but not brown.
- Add pork, cook and stir for 2 – 3 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Stir in beans, broth, tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 minutes or just until pork is tender, stirring occasionally.
- Spoon cassoulet into individual soup bowls. Sprinkle each serving with parsley and breadcrumbs.
Source: Recipe courtesy of National Pork Board. For more information about Pork, The Other White Meat, visit www.otherwhitemeat.com
ALICE'S TIPS:
- Check on the label, Web site or with the manufacturer for how long their sun dried tomatoes in oil will keep in the refrigerator, once opened. If you can't find this information, plan to eat any unused tomatoes within a few days or freeze them (see #2 below).
Other uses for sun dried tomatoes packed in oil include: mixed with pasta, potato and macaroni salads, served on crackers with cream cheese, mixed with mashed potatoes. NOTE: the olive oil will harden after it is refrigerated but will liquify again at room temperature.
- To freeze sun-dried tomatoes in oil, use the “plop method” -- like when making baby food. Drop by tablespoons on a sheet of waxed or parchment paper or plastic wrap on a metal baking sheet or pan. Freeze until solid and transfer to a freezer bag. Use individual “plops” as needed. For best flavor, use within a few months. Label the date put in the freezer. NOTE: Occasionally when aluminum foil comes in contact with a highly acidic food, small harmless pinholes are formed in the foil. For this reason, it’s not recommended to place “plops” on aluminum foil or freeze them in foil.
- If you'd like to further decrease the sodium in this recipe, use beans canned without salt, low-sodium chicken broth and omit the salt.
- Extra chicken broth may be frozen in ice cube trays and transferred to freezer bags as needed. Or, a low sodium powdered chicken bouillon could be used.
- I substituted a few crushed crackers for the seasoned bread crumbs when I made it.