Last updated on March 31st, 2024 at 01:00 pm
#AD We have teamed up for a paid partnership with Love Pork, The Scotch Kitchen and BritMums showcasing simple balanced meals that are easy to cook at home. All ingredients are easily swappable.
The #SimpleBalancedMeals #CookingatHome campaign is sponsored by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) – the English, Welsh and Scottish levy bodies that between them cover all food groups in a healthy balanced diet.
When it comes to making simple and balanced family meals, it’s chaos in our house. I am always keen to make sure I have our family meals planned out and that they are simple and balanced. Just because we are all at home now, doesn’t mean the kids can’t get a balanced diet that they enjoy.
Pork is a source of vitamin B12, vitamin B6 and zinc which can help the immune system to work normally.
This is why we make sure we have lean meats (like pork, beef or lamb) a few times a week in a variety of ways. It’s easy to get into a rut of cooking the same few meal options that are quick but it’s better to make it as varied as you can for your family’s diet.
We love shredded pork. When I am rushing for time, this recipe is my “go to” for so many reasons. This means you can pop it in the slow cooker in the morning and it’s ready for dinner time without any hassle. It also means you can cook it ahead of time. Always a bonus to parents rushing around when you can have it ready to grab and throw on a plate come dinner time.
Secondly, there aren’t a lot of fancy ingredients or things that aren’t already in your cupboard. Most people will have the core ingredients already at hand (see my alternatives and substitutes section below). All you have to do is make sure you have some cabbage and pork and some nice bread rolls — whatever your choice is. If you want to get fancy, have the kids bake some at the weekend for a homemade cooking activity and twice the flavour.
Either way, my Sweet Pork Slaw Rolls are creamy and sweet so the kids love the flavours, vegetables, and carbohydrates, and pairing it with pineapple, peppers and avocado really pulls it all together for a simple, well balanced and simple family dinner.
There are some great reasons to eat lean pork. Here is why we love it:
Pork
- Pork is a source of vitamin B12
- Vitamin B12 helps energy production in the body
- Vitamin B12 helps the nervous system work normally
- Vitamin B12 helps red blood cell formation
- Vitamin B12 helps the immune system work normally
- Vitamin B12 helps reduce tiredness and fatigue
- Not only can some cuts of pork be lean, but it’s naturally rich in protein, low in salt and provides ten vitamins and minerals that contribute towards good health and wellbeing. These are: thiamin (vitamin B1), niacin (vitamin B3), vitamins B6 and B12, riboflavin, zinc, potassium, phosphorus, selenium and pantothenic acid.
Alternatives and substitutions if needed:
If the kids don’t like red or white cabbage just leave it out. The sweet pork and sides here are still delicious enough on their own. That’s the beauty of this recipe you can alter it as you go for whatever the family likes, or whatever you have in at the time
For the adults, we like to add chilli flakes to our vinegar-and-brown sugar mixture before we add the pork. Just a little tip, try it, you will love it!
You can literally choose whatever style of bread roll, ciabatta, wheat, tiger bread, even normal bread if you want it more like a sandwich!
Sweet Pork Slaw Rolls
sweet, simple, and balanced meal on a delicious toasted bun
Ingredients
- 3 lb boneless pork shoulder joint, all visible fat removed
- 1 Tbsp black pepper
- 2 Tbsp whole-grain mustard
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1/8 cup (30ml) mayonnaise
- 1/2 small red or white cabbage
- 1 cup (235ml) cider vinegar
- 3 Tbsp soft brown sugar
- 8 bread rolls
Instructions
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Place Pork Shoulder on a cutting board to breathe for a few minutes and rub pepper on top
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Place in pressure cook according to directions about 4 to 5 hours. Or in an intelligent multi-cooker. It took me only 50 minutes to pop in and be ready to shred. (Add 200ml water on Pork Setting in an intelligent multicooker. Alternatively cook in oven according to package directions for shredding.
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In a medium bowl, mix together mustard, lemon juice, and mayonnaise. Slice cabbage as thin as you can and add in.
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In small bowl mix together vinegar, and sugar. Mix in your shredded pork once cooked.
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Toast ciabatta or dinner rolls in the oven for 2 minutes before layering your sweet pork and creamy slaw.
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Serve with avocado, pineapple, and red peppers. The flavors compliment each other perfectly with the pork and slaw.
GET THE KIDS INVOLVED:
Whenever I cook dinner, I always try to get the kids involved. So it’s not a slow process, especially when we don’t have a lot of time prepping dinner, I let them take turns. One sets the table while the other one helps me whip something like this together. MM eats a lot better now that she is usually the one making her dinners.
My Sweet Pork Slaw is the perfect one for the kids to layer and dish up themselves too. Just to be different, B likes to put his slaw on bottom and pork on top. He says it tastes better that way. Another handy tip to try!
What do you cook for a simple balanced family meal? Do you prep ahead or open the fridge and hope that something jumps out at you at the last minute? No judgment — we all do it from time to time. I would love to get some inspired new ideas — comment below.
Visit https://www.lovepork.co.uk/ for more delicious and simple balanced meals with pork!
The #SimpleBalancedMeals #CookingatHome campaign is sponsored by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) and Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales (HCC) – the English, Welsh and Scottish levy bodies that between them cover all food groups in a healthy balanced diet.
Follow #SimpleBalancedMeals and get even more inspiration!
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These rolls are exactly the kind of thing my family likes to eat. I had not realised how simple something like this could be to make. We will definitely be giving it a try
Oh wow this looks amazing. I love doing pulled pork. So easy and yet really tasty.
What a great midweek meal. We are big pork fans and I love how well this goes with the red cabbage. Pinning to make later xx
They look delicious!