Broth-Braised Crock Pot Pork and Noodles

New year, new kitchen quandaries! Rather than freezing four separate containers of homemade crab stock, I used it to make a healthy Ramen/Pho-like pulled pork and soba noodles dish. We even had leftover pulled pork at the end of it.

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Pulled Pork: place all ingredients in a crock pot on low for 6 hours.

3 cups broth or stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sake
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pork tenderloin

Noodles: once pork is ready, cook noodles of choice separately in their own pot using additional broth. Add kale or other greens once noodles are near al dente.

Serve pork on top of noodles and add condiments of choice. David had his with a little Sriracha sauce.

Boiled Chicken, All Grown Up

In the early days of Dinner with David, I spent a fair number of nights boiling chicken to make enough shredded, juicy meat for several dinners. Nutritious and satisfying, it was about as exciting as, well, boiled chicken.

So, with a generous bunch of green onions in the fridge, and inspiration from Pinterest, I took some liberties with two nights of leftovers.

Soba Noodles Cooked in Chicken Broth, with Peas and Green Onions

Simply boil leftover broth along with two cups of water. Add 1 tbsp each of soy sauce and fish sauce, and green onions. Add soba noodles and cook until nearly tender; then add leftover chicken and frozen peas, and stir until peas are cooked through.

Shredded Chicken with Spanish Rice, Topped with Green Onions

This attempt was a little more dicy. Inspired by Pinterest, I decided to give the ol’ rice cooker a try at making Spanish rice. Add one can of diced tomatoes (I used tomato sauce), 1 1/2 cups water, 1 1/2 cups of rice and 2 tbsp of taco seasoning to the rice cooker. Be prepared to force your rice cooker’s handle to stay in the on position like I did (mine wanted to stop a couple of minutes in). But, unlike me, don’t let it cook so long it chars the bottom of the pot. 🙂 Serve with leftover chicken, broth and green onions.

Ramen for a Modern Woman

Us modern girls like to have our cake and eat it too. Why not squeeze in a workout while making dinner?

Lately I’ve been putting this theory to the test, courtesy of our makeshift home gym. Here’s how to make ramen inspired by Everyday Food‘s Asian-Style Chicken Soup, while doing four sets of three exercises.

It may sound crazy, but if you’re a multi-tasker like me, you’ll eat it up (pun intended). And if all that juggling makes it hard for you to remember to defrost the chicken ahead of time, no worries – this version uses straight-from-the-freezer tenders.

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1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Put 5 frozen chicken tenders in pan; cover with foil. Fill large pot with water.

Do a set

3. Put chicken in oven and set timer for 20 min. Turn stove on high; put pot of water on.

Do 2 sets

4. Put Chinese-style ramen noodles in the boiling water for 3 minutes; stir to separate.

Do a set

5. Check on chicken; set timer for 15 more minutes, if needed. Remove noodles from stove; drain and leave in colander.

Do 2 sets

6. Put drained noodles in bowl with 1 tbsp of oil to avoid sticking.

Do 2 sets

7. Remove chicken from oven to cool. To make the soup base, combine 10 cups of chicken broth, 3 tbsp fish sauce, 4 tbsp soy sauce, and a dash of ground ginger in the same large pot you used for noodles; bring to boil.

Do 2 sets

8. Shred chicken with forks

Do 2 sets

9. Add noodles, chicken, and any veggies you like (I used spinach and radish slices) to the broth. Bring back to boil. Simmer for a couple of minutes. Season as needed.

Enjoy your ramen with a side of endorphins.