What’s with all the pork.  Blech.  

For those that can’t eat pork (or don’t like it) this isn’t really helpful

For those that can’t eat pork (or don’t like it) this isn’t really helpful

You can always substitute beef, chicken, etc. for the pork.

I am amazed by the complaints about pork. Many of us eat it and enjoy it. You at LearnVest have devoted time, energy, and money to offer us this feature, and I appreciate it.  As Alewis02 and kimacw said, substituting should be easy. As for myself, I don’t eat the hot stuff, so when I take a look at the actual recipe for jalapeno dressing, I’ll either simply leave out the jalapenos or use some other dressing.  If you base a week’s menus on tofu, I won’t complain. I’ll just substitute or skip that week.  Thanks again.

This is awesome!

I’m from the southern states and some of the ingredients used are foreign to me plus it means I will have to spend time searching for the items like Quinoa. How would I sound to the groc. manager trying to pronounce it. :p 

I do like the idea of preparing several meals from as few ingredients as possible. I’ve tried some Italian dishes, but many of the different cheeses and other items are like a whole different language of food.

Simple is good. I fixed a casserole (Italian) that had as much as 12 ingredients and I have to say it was too much. I couldn’t taste the tomatoes for the competing artichokes and black olives. A little can go a long way such as home grown purple hull peas with marinated (fresh) vegetables, pepper relish and cajun pork roast, maybe with some rice. All this takes about 15-20 min. to prepare. Also any leftover vegetables in the crisper can be roasted or as a marinated salad. BTW, the roasted veg. recipe is GREAT!  

Euwwww, pork.

Suggestions: I love this concept and am going to try it this month, however the formatting needs more work to become truly useful. An ‘email it’ or printable format for the shopping list is key. If there’s a LearnVest smartphone app in the works, including a shopping list feature would be great (simliar to Epicurious app) and of course you could partner with vendors to provide coupons on featured products (like many debit cards, or Upromise does) or even partner with a pricing-comparison company to alert users to stores with current deals.

In addition to the shopping list, I found it non-intuitive to find the Sunday instructions, as well as the recipes. I was able to figure it out, but it’s not terribly user-friendly. While having it split out into the article is good for the landing page from the email promotion, it would be good to have a “home page” for each month and week where you can easily access all the information you need in a linear fashion. I realized this isn’t the core focus of Learn Vest, but with additional effort it would provide something to keep people coming back daily/weekly and also potential tie-ins to other vendors (profit for you, savings for us.)

Lastly, I support the one-protein-a-week concept. That’s sort of the point, isn’t it? Get one thing and reuse it throughout the entire week. If you don’t like something, or are restricted from eating it surely you can substitute. Chicken or gluten are easily made into similar consistency products as pork. It’s not my go-to protein either, but as I try out this idea I figure why not open my mind up to new recipes and a different way of eating?

I didn’t make every recipe on the list, but I loved the quinoa one and am making the soup tomorrow.  I love the idea of this though and can’t wait to see what next week hold for me   I’m not very creative with pork, so I was glad for the new recipes.

This Week’s Menu

Day 1: Roast pork with roasted vegetables
Day 2: Pork pitas with vegetables and dill hummus
Day 3: Pork-fried quinoa with dill and capers
Day 4: Black bean and pork sweet potato salad
Day 5: Roasted vegetable and black bean soup
Snack: Dill hummus with pita chips

Shopping List for Week 1

Staples you might already have:
Olive oil, Tahini, Cayenne Powder, Capers, Vinegar 

Weekly ingredients:
2 1/2 pounds boneless center cut pork loin
2 heads garlic
2 red peppers
1 jalapeño
1 small turnip
1 small parsnip
1 carrot
1 small bunch of radishes (both the roots and the greens)
1 lemon
2 limes
1 bunch dill
1 bunch spinach (1/2 pound)
1 large onion (12 ounces)
1 pound potatoes (2 medium or 1 large potato)
1 sweet potato (12 ounces)
10 ounces plum tomatoes (2 medium)
2 1/2 cups chicken stock (if canned, choose low sodium variety)*
1 cup quinoa
1 can black beans (15.5 ounces)
1 can chickpeas (15.5 ounces)
6 whole wheat pitas

Your Plan for Week 1

Sunday’s your prep day, so leave yourself just over an hour (about 65 minutes) to prepare the basics you’ll need throughout the week. All of the recipes build off of each other, so you’ll be using the ingredients from these prep recipes many a time.

For this week, you’ll need to roast pork, vegetables, garlic and potatoes.  Feel free to use your own preferred recipe for roasting the meat and veggies, if you have one. While those are in the oven, clean the dill, radish greens and spinach. Store those greens in plastic containers topped with a damp paper towel to keep them fresh. Then, make the dill hummus.

Cook the quinoa and make the jalapeño dressing. As your roasted meat and vegetables come out of the oven, pop in the slices of pita bread to make pita chips.

Roasted Pork

2 1/2 pounds boneless center cut pork loin, at room temperature

Salt and pepper

1 teaspoon olive oil

Pat meat dry and season with salt and pepper. Put oil into pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, put in meat and brown all over, about 6 minutes. Place in 350 F oven until pork reaches 140 F. The time varies due to the thickness of the pork. Start checking temperature after 20 minutes. After pork reaches temperature, cover it with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

Roasted Vegetables

1 small parsnip, 1/2-inch slices on a diagonal

1 carrot, 1/2-inch slices on a diagonal

1 small turnip, 1/2-inch cubes

12 small radish roots, trimmed

2 red peppers, cut into strips

1 large onion, cut into about 6 pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt and pepper

Directions

Toss vegetables, salt, pepper and olive oil. Roast until onions are tender, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes.

Time

Prep time: 10 minutes Total time: 50 minutes

Roasted Garlic

Cut off the top of two garlic bulbs to expose the individual cloves. Wrap the garlic, with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper, in aluminum foil. Bake until garlic is soft (in a 350 F oven, about 30 minutes). When bulb is cool, squeeze the individual cloves out of the skin.

Time

Prep time: 3 minutes Total time: 35 minutes

Roasted Potatoes 

Scrub the potatoes and cut into cubes (do not peel them, as the nutrients are in the skin). Toss them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Sautee in the hot pan used for the pork until the potatoes begin to brown, about 8 minutes. Roast until tender, about 25 minutes.

Time

Prep time: 10 minutes Total time: 35 minutes

Dill Hummus

1 can chickpeas, well rinsed

1/2 garlic clove, minced

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons 

tahini

1/2-3/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup dill, chopped

Cayenne pepper, to taste

Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions

In a food processor, place all ingredients but olive oil. While processor is on, add olive oil until desired consistency is achieved.

Time

Prep time: 5 minutes Total Time:  5 minutes

Quinoa

Directions

Total time: 25 minutes

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 cup quinoa, cover and bring heat to a simmer. Don’t stir. Turn off the heat when water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork.

Time

Prep time: 1 minute

Jalapeño Dressing

1 small jalapeño, seeded and roughly chopped

Juice of 2 limes

2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup olive oil

Directions

Add pepper to a food processor with lime juice, sugar and salt. Blend those four ingredients and with motor still running, slowly add olive oil until dressing is thickened.

Time

Prep time: 5 minutes

Total time: 8 minutes

Day 1: Pork Plate

Prep time: 5 minutes Total time: 7 minutes 
Serves: 2 

8 ounces pork slices
1/2 of the roasted parsnip
1/2 of the roasted carrot
1/2 of the roasted turnip
8 of the roasted radishes
2 wedges of the roasted onion
1/2 of the roasted potatoes
1/2 head roasted garlic

Bring all ingredients to room temperature, heat in the oven at 400 F for 10 minutes, or eat as they come out of the oven during the big prep day. Divide all items onto two plates.

Day 2: Pork Pitas

Prep time: 5 minutes Total time: 8 minutes
Serves: 2 

2 whole wheat pitas, sliced at the top
1/2 cup dill hummus
1 1/2 cups chopped spinach
1/4 of the roasted pepper
4 roasted radishes
6 ounces pork, thinly sliced

Coat the inside of a whole wheat pita generously with dill hummus, add chopped spinach, roasted peppers, radishes and pork.

Day 3: Pork-Fried Quinoa

Prep time: 5 minutes Total time: 10 minutes
Serves: 2 

1 tablespoon olive oil
6 cloves smashed, roasted garlic
2 wedges of the roasted onion, chopped
1/2 of the roasted potatoes
4 teaspoon capers
1/4 of the roasted peppers
chopped radish greens, sliced into thin strips
1 cup dill, chopped
1 tablespoon vinegar (rice or cider vinegar)
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 generous cups quinoa
4 ounces roast pork, chopped

Heat large sauté pan over medium heat with olive oil. Add roasted garlic and 1 wedge of roasted onion, chopped. Add roasted potatoes and sauté. Add capers, roasted pepper, radish greens, and dill. Add vinegar, then chicken stock. Add quinoa and chopped pork. Mix well. Serve hot.

Day 4: Pork and Sweet Potato Salad

Prep time: 5 minutes Total time: 7 minutes
Serves: 2 

1 sweet potato, peeled and shredded
1/2 can black beans, well rinsed
1/4 of the roasted red pepper, chopped
2 ounces jalapeño dressing
6 ounces roast pork, cubed

Toss shredded sweet potato with 1/2-can of well rinsed black beans and roasted red pepper. Mix in the dressing after shaking well. Add cubed pork.

Day 5: Roasted Vegetable Soup

Prep time: 5 minutes Total time: 15 minutes
Serves: 3 

1 teaspoon olive oil
6 cloves roasted garlic
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/4 of the roasted pepper, chopped
2 wedges of the roasted onions, chopped
Any leftover roasted radishes, sliced
1/2 of the roasted carrot
1/2 of the roasted parsnip
1/2 of the roasted turnip
1/2-can black beans, well rinsed
2 cups chicken stock
Any leftover spinach, chopped
2 cups quinoa
4 ounces roast pork, cubed

This is the ‘clean the fridge soup’ at the end of the week. Heat olive oil into a medium-sized soup pot over medium heat. Add roasted garlic, cook 1 minute. Add chopped tomatoes. Cook 1 minute. Add roasted vegetables and leftover half can of rinsed black beans. Add 2 cups chicken stock of stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in spinach and quinoa and portion into bowls. Garnish with left over pork. Optional: Swirl in some hummus.

Pita Chips

Ingredients

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

1/2 cup olive oil

4 round whole wheat pita pockets

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine sesame seeds, salt and olive oil. Cut the pitas in half and then cut each half into four triangles. Tear each triangle at the seam. Place pitas rough side up on a baking sheet, brush each piece with oil mixture. Bake until brown, about 10 minutes.

Time

Prep time: 5 minutes Total time: 15 minutes