ArcaMax

Ingredients:

Thirty-six ounnces of thin-sliced, boneless pork LOIN chops. (Don’t use regular pork chops. They are too fatty). You don’t have to have the thin ones but they make quick work of this. Trim off fat bits.

For the sauce
2 tsp (or two packets) of Truvia
4 Tbl of tomato paste (no sugar)
4 Tbl of Bragg’s aminos
1/4 tsp of sea salt
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
1 Tbl of corn starch dissolved in a 1/4 cup of water

For Veggies
You can vary these some. Most traditional Chinese dishes like this have green bell peppers in them. I think it’s more for the color than anything. Green peppers are higher in carbs than red, yellow and orange ones and I like the flavor better so I stick with those.
1/2 red bell pepper, cubed
1/2 orange bell pepper, cubed
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cubed
1 large onion cut into chunks
1 to 2 cups of cantaloupe cubes or balls (made with a melon baller)
2 medium tomatoes cut into wedges. Six wedges per tomato

This is one of those dishes that you want to get all of your prep work done before you start because this will come together very fast; like many Chinese dishes. You’ll also have things going on in 3 pans at once but don’t fear! You can do it! Just have a timer handy to time the pork.

Slice your pork into half-inch thin strips. Set aside.

Prep all of your veggies.

Put the sauce ingredients all in a sauce pan at once (except for the cornstarch mixture). Begin to heat that and stir it constantly until the tomato paste breaks up and you have a smooth orange-red sauce. Then add the corn starch mixture and cook on a low bubble (medium temp) until it thickens. Keep an eye on it and stir often while the other things are cooking.

Next spray a large sauté pan with olive oil spray and begin to cook your pork strips. They will take a maximum of five minutes per side; (depending on how thinly they are cut). You can cook them all the way through or leave them with a tiny bit of pink in the middle. Up to you. Most like it cooked through.

Then spray another large pan and add your onion and peppers. They will take about 8 minutes to cook on medium. That’s why I had you start them now.

Now that all things are cooking just go back and forth turning the pork and the veggies and stirring your sauce. When the sauce is thick, turn it off.

When the veggies are done you are going to pour the sauce over them and stir. You can also put in the pork now or serve the pork on the plate and pour the sauce over. Up to you. Just before you are ready to serve, add the tomatoes and the cantaloupe. All you want to do with these two is stir them in until they are warm.

You might recall that traditional Sweet and Sour Pork has pineapple in it. (and sometimes maraschino cherries! YUK) Pineapple is a very high glycemic fruit so I have subbed it with cantaloupe. It tastes amazing. Perfect sweet bits.

Serve in a bowl. You’ll never miss the rice.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola