Comments (0) | |

Wednesday, Jun. 18, 2008

Asian pork and asparagus with black rice

Asian pork and asparagus with black rice

1 3/4 cups water

1 cup black or red rice

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 can (14 ounces) low-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon each: honey, cornstarch

1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 piece (2 inches long) ginger root, finely chopped

6 boneless pork chops, thinly sliced

1 small bunch asparagus, trimmed, sliced into 1-inch pieces on the diagonal

Makes 8 servings.

Combine water, rice and salt in a saucepan; cover. Heat to a boil; lower heat to a simmer. Cook until rice is tender, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the broth, soy sauce, honey, cornstarch and sesame oil in a small bowl.

Heat a wok over high heat when rice is almost done. Add vegetable oil; heat to almost smoking. Add garlic and ginger; stir-fry 30 seconds. Add pork; stir-fry until starting to brown, 2 minutes. Remove to platter. Add asparagus to wok; stir-fry 2 minutes.

Stir the broth mixture; add to wok. Cook, stirring often, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Return pork and its juices to wok; stir. Cover; lower heat to medium-low. Cook until pork is done and asparagus is crisp-tender, about 1 minute. Serve over black rice.

Start stir-frying about 8 minutes before the rice is done cooking.

Nutritional information per serving: 262 calories, 37 percent of calories from fat, 11 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 45 mg cholesterol, 24 g carbohydrates, 18 g protein, 429 mg sodium, 2 g fiber.