Red Pork and Cabbage with Beets

A one skillet meal of sautéed red vegetables--beets, cabbage, and radishes--with a bit of pork for protein. I nicknamed this low carb grain free meal Red Power Dish.

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It's interesting how my consumption of the news has changed. I remember when I was a kid Sunday morning was for piling up on my folks' bed and reading the paper. Primarily I read the Sunday comic section and accompanying magazine. I don't think I paid any attention to the daily paper the rest of the week, unless I had a project for school.

As an adult, I'd get the daily paper when it was offered as an add on deal with the Sunday paper, but once the promotion ended I'd stick with just the Sunday paper. I mainly read the Wednesday Food section and Friday Weekend sections anyway. Now that I have no more guinea pigs, I rarely get the Sunday paper. I get news from aggregator sites, from things friends share on FB, from links people email me. While that keeps me informed, I found I missed the lighter side of the paper.

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Online comic strips are one of the interesting ways that creative people are making the internet a better place for me. Since I rarely read the Sunday paper in print, internet comics have replaced the Sunday funnies for me.

This image is by Allie Brosh from her site Hyperbole and a Half

One internet comic has created an image that resonates with me when I think about this dish. The recipe came about when I realized I had no plans for a monochromatic collection of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm share vegetables in my crisper. I figured I'd better use them up all at once so I could move forward to the next week's veggie box. This recipe is my way to USE ALL THE THINGS.

Red Pork and Cabbage with Beets

Ingredients

• 2 to 3 Tablespoons olive oil or the cooking fat of your choice, divided
• 1 pork steak (or 2 thin pork chops, or a piece of kielbasa, or a couple of brats)
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning (if using unseasoned pork)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 to 3 large radishes, shredded 
• 2 medium beets, shredded, with leaves sliced and stems chopped
• 1 small red cabbage, sliced thinly
• salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar

Instructions

1. Preheat a large skillet (I use my 12 inch cast iron) over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of oil.
2. Season the pork steak with lemon pepper seasoning on one side and place, seasoned side down, in hot skillet. Season the new top side of the steak.
3. Brown the pork steak on both sides, about 5 to 8 minutes per side, then remove to a cutting board. Slice into thin strips after it has a chance to rest. In the meantime, get going with the onions.
4. Add another tablespoon of oil to the skillet. We're still at medium heat, by the way. Sauté the onion for 3 to 5 minutes until it begins to soften. Add in the radishes and beet stems and stir to coat with oil.
5. Sauté the onion, radish, and beet stems together for a few minutes and then add in the shredded beets, stirring to coat with oil and combining with the radishes and onions. Everything will turn pink at this point. 
6. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over top of the vegetables, maybe half a teaspoon, and several grinds of pepper. 
7. When the onions are beginning to brown, and the radishes and beets are tender, add in the cabbage. I use tongs to combine everything at this point. Cover the skillet and let the moisture from the vegetables wilt the cabbage for 3 minutes.
8. Add back in the thinly sliced pork and beet leaves and thoroughly combine with the rest of the vegetables. Allow everything to heat through for another 5 minutes or so. Taste. You'll probably want more salt and pepper. Remove from heat and drizzle a bit of balsamic vinegar over top before serving.

For more recipes using beets, please see my Beet Recipes Collection. For more recipes using cabbage, please see my Cabbage Recipes Collection. For more recipes using radishes, please see my Radish Recipes Collection. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me staring at a crisper full of veggies, knowing more is on the way, and wondering if this Adulting thing is really all it's cracked up to be. Follow me on FB for articles that catch my eye. Follow me on Instagram for a local life behind the scenes. Follow me on Pinterest for more recipes than we could make in a lifetime. Want to know How to Use this Blog?