Sweet Tea Braised Pork Shoulder with Cornbread Stuffing

I don't think I can say enough about how great this recipe is. Instead of telling you the details about why I made it, how I made it, etc, I think it's better to just answer a few possible questions. Yes, this recipe is as good as the title sounds. No, it's not nearly as hard or labor intensive as one might think. Yes, it requires a little time but it's so worth it. Yes, you need to make this dish!!

Sweet Tea Braised Pork Shoulder with Cornbread Stuffing

Serves 4-6
Prep/Cook Time: 4 hours

Sweet Tea Braised Pork Shoulder
2.5 pound boneless pork shoulder
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 3 large pieces
3 celery ribs, cut into 3 large pieces
1 onion, cut into large pieces
64 ounces sweet tea

Cornbread Stuffing
1 package of Jiffy cornbread mix
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
2 spicy chicken sausage links, chopped
2 poblano peppers, roasted, seeded and chopped
1 celery rib, chopped
1/4 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1 egg
salt and pepoer

For the braised pork:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the pork shoulder in a dutch oven and arrange the carrots, celery, and onion around it. Pour the sweet tea over it. I only used about 3/4 of the bottle. Braise the pork in the oven for 3 1/2 to 4 hours or until the the meat falls apart easily.

When the meat is done, strain out the vegetables and discard. Set the meat aside and heat the braising liquid over medium-high heat until slightly thickened. Serve the sauce on the side or drizzle over the pork.

For the cornbread stuffing:
In a small bowl, combine the Jiffy mix, egg, and milk. Stir until combined and then pour into a well greased baking dish or cake pan. Cook according to the package directions. Let cool.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add a little olive oil and then saute the onions and celery until softened, about 5 minutes. Add in the chopped chicken sausage and saute an additional 3 minutes or until the chicken sausage starts to brown.

Cut up the cornbread into small pieces and then crumble up the cornbread in a large mixing bowl. Add in the onion mixture, chicken broth, and an egg. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper. Spray the dish that the cornbread was cooked in with a little more cooking spray and then pour in the cornbread mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (this can be done the last 30 minutes when the pork is cooking).

Roasted Cauliflower with Dates, Olives and Rosemary

If you aren't normally a fan of cauliflower or you only like cauliflower when it's covered in cheese, this is a recipe that I guarantee will convert you into a cauliflower lover. This recipe is awesome.  It's so simple yet different from any other cauliflower dish that I've had. I would have never thought to combine dates and olives with cauliflower but it's genius in my opinion. The salty and sweet combo plus the savory rosemary equals pure cauliflower perfection!

** For a picture, see my recipe for Parmesan-sage pork chops.

Roasted Cauliflower with Dates, Olives and Rosemary
** from Running with Tweezers

Serves 4
Prep/Cook Time: 25 minutes

1 medium head cauliflower, tough stems and leaves removed and cut into florets
2 T. olive oil
1 tsp black pepper
2 T. butter
10 dates, pits removed and roughly chopped
15 green olives, roughly chopped
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves removed and roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a large roasting pan, toss the cauliflower florets with the olive oil and ground black pepper. Roast the cauliflower for 20-25 minutes or until tender and slightly caramelized. 
About 2 minutes before you’re going to pull the cauliflower from the oven, heat the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Allow to start to bubble and brown slightly. Toss in the chopped rosemary, dates and olives and saute until heated through. Remove the cauliflower from the oven and drizzle with the butter/date/olive. Season with salt and pepper as needed. 

Sweet Potato and Sage Risotto

Last week Brady made sweet potato and sage risotto as a side dish and in my opinion it ended up being the star of the meal. The halibut that Brady made was great, but the risotto was so different than any I'd had before. I would have never thought of adding a dash of cayenne but it added so much flavor and strangely paired perfectly with the sweet potatoes and sage. I loved that the risotto tasted creamy and rich despite the fact that there isn't any butter or cheese in it. While the risotto has restaurant quality written all over it, the dish required minimal ingredients (and cheap one's at that) and was super simple to make. You really can't beat that! 

Sweet Potato and Sage Risotto

Serves 4
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes

1 1/2 c. Arborio rice
5 green onions, chopped
2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 bunch fresh sage
1 bay leaf
1/4 c. olive oil
2 1/2 c. water
2 c. skim milk
1 red onion, chopped
2 tsp. garlic salt
2-3 dashes cayenne


Microwave sweet potatoes for about 2 minutes in a microwave-safe bowl. They should be slightly firm, not mushy. Meanwhile, roughly chop about 6 sage leaves and set aside.

Heat olive oil and 3 T. water in a large saucepan or saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic salt, the chopped red onion, most of the green onions, a little bit of chopped sage, and the sweet potatoes. Saute for 3-5 minutes, until liquid is absorbed.


Add rice, cayenne, and a bit more sage. Cook for one minute, or until rice is slightly transparent. Add 1/2 cup milk and cook until absorbed, stirring constantly. Add 1/2 cup water and stir until absorbed. Repeat this process (alternate milk and water). Do not add the next portion of liquid until the previous liquid is absorbed. It is very important to stir and fold the rice mixture constantly. 


When all of the liquid has been added and absorbed your consistency should be similar to thick oatmeal. To serve garnish with remaining sage and chopped green onions.

Salmon Baked in Foil with Mediterranean Orzo

I have been awful about blogging this month. We've been cooking, I just haven't gotten around to posting what we've been making.  I tell myself that I am going to post some recipes and well, it just doesn't happen. I have a few recipes that we've recently made that I will eventually post but I wanted to start off with a dish that we had earlier this week. Brady made the below salmon and orzo recipe for us. I loved how simple the salmon was and cooking it in the foil really kept it moist and flavorful. Cooking fish in foil or parchment paper is a great way to keep your fish from drying out. The Mediterranean Orzo complimented the salmon perfectly but you could easily make the orzo on it's own as a main dish or serve it with grilled chicken.

I have no idea why the tomatoes look orange...

 Salmon Baked in Foil with Mediterranean Orzo
** Salmon recipe serves 2 and orzo serves 4

For the Salmon:
2 salmon fillets
1 T. olive oil plus 1 tsp.
salt and pepper
2 small Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
lemon, juiced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme

Preheat the oven to 400.

Drizzle salmon with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. In a small mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, shallots, lemon juice, oregano, thyme and 1 tsp olive oil.

Place a salmon fillet, skin side down, atop a sheet of foil. Spoon the tomato mixture over the salmon and fold up the foil, covering completely. Repeat with the other salmon fillet. Place the foil packets on a baking sheet. Bake until the salmon is just cooked through, about 20 minutes. Use a spatula to transfer the salmon and tomato mixture to a plate to serve.

For the Mediterranean Orzo:

1 box orzo, cooked according to directions
8 large asparagus spears, blanched and cut into 1/2 in. pieces**
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cucumber, diced
1/2 red pepper diced
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
2 T. Italian parsley, chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette

Cook the orzo according to directions, drain and run under cold water. Once orzo is cool, mix all ingredients in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.

** To blanch the asparagus, boil a small saucepan of water. When the water is boiling, add the asparagus and simmer for about 4 minutes. Drain the water and run cold water over asparagus.

Roasted Cauliflower with Fresh Herbs and Parmesan

Brady made the below roasted cauliflower recipe at Thanksgiving and we made it again the other day. I've made other roasted cauliflower recipes before but this is by far the best I've had. The herbs and touch of Parmesan give the dish such great flavor plus I like the addition of the lemon juice. This recipe could easily be made with whatever herbs you have on hand or find on sale; we used different herbs then those in the original recipe and I think the dish turned out great!

Roasted Cauliflower with Fresh Herbs and Parmesan
** from Cooking Light

Serves 4
Prep/Cook Time: 30 minutes

6 cups cauliflower florets (about 1 head)
1 T. olive oil
1 T. chopped fresh rosemary
1 T. chopped fresh sage
1 T. chopped fresh chives
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. graded fresh Parmesan cheese
2 T. fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preheat oven to 450.

Place cauliflower in a large roasting pan. Drizzle with oil; toss well to coat. Bake for 20 minutes or until tender and browned, stirring after 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with half the rosemary, half the sage and half the chives. Also sprinkle with the minced garlic. Bake for an additional 5 minutes. In a serving bowl, combine the cauliflower mixture, Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, and remaining herbs. Season with salt and pepper.

Toasted - Coconut Rice Pilaf

Unfortunately I haven't spent much time in the kitchen this week. The last time I cooked (making eggs and heating up my rotisserie chicken from the store doesn't count) was last weekend. I felt like Thai food and it was the perfect opportunity to try out the below rice pilaf recipe. I LOVED it! It was super easy and tasted like something you'd order from a takeout restaurant. Plus it was so much healthier than anything that could have been delivered. I served the rice with chicken, zucchini, red pepper, and summer squash that had been sauteed in a Thai peanut sauce (I recommend House of Tsang, it's great and low in fat and calories).

Toasted-Coconut Rice Pilaf

Serves 4
Prep/Cook Time: 25 minutes

3 T. coconut
1 T. olive oil
1 c. long grain brown rice
1 c. broth
1 c. light coconut milk
2 or 3 slices lime
1/2 c. frozen peas

In a medium saucepan, toast the coconut over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

In the same saucepan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add rice and sauce for about 3 minutes. Add broth and coconut milk and bring a boil. Add a little salt and pepper and the lime slices. Stir, cover tightly and reduce heat to low and simmer about 15-20 minutes or until fluffy. Make sure to stir occasionally.

Add peas and coconut and stir to combine. Cook 1 minute or until peas are just cooked through.

Southwest Quinoa Salad

Tonight I made a great side dish with my new favorite grain quinoa.  This is an incredibly easy dish to toss together on a week night and it's healthy and flavorful too.  I served mine with a southwest tilapia fillet from Costco (wish I could say that I had something to do with how great the fish tasted, but I can't take the credit, it was all Costco!) 

Southwest Quinoa Salad
** adapted from Fresh Clean Start
(printable recipe)

Serves 4-6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Southwest Quinoa Salad

1 cup cooked quinoa (or brown rice)
1 cup or so chickpeas (any bean will do)
1 cup corn kernels (fresh, frozen or canned)
1 avocado, diced
1 roma tomato, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1/2 jalapeno, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
small handful of cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lime
1-2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cumin, chile powder, paprika (optional)

Prepare quinoa according to directions.  Meanwhile prepare all other ingredients.  Once quinoa is finished cooking, toss everything together and serve. 

** I refrigerated mine for about 30 minutes and served it as a cold salad.