Curried Pork Belly with Vegetables

This past weekend, we decided to pick up a full pork belly—if you can find it, it’s a great savings, and we hope to make our own bacon on the smoker at some point. We haven’t cracked that code yet, but for this week we made a delicious curry recipe that resulted in super tender, flavorful pork belly with vegetables.

Cooking this dish was a bit of an adventure, as the liquids didn’t reduce as quickly as I expected. Kudos to my good friend and cooking sensei Russ for sous cheffing via iMessage on a Saturday night.

Reverse-Seared Pork Chops

We haven’t made pork chops in a long time. A really long time. When I think of pork chops, I think of dry, chewy white meat smothered in apple sauce or gravy. That’s how they were served (at least to me) when I was a kid. But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Our new favorite method of cooking steaks is reserve searing, and it worked beautifully for these pork chops. It does take a while, but most of that time is the baking process. I like that because it means I can spend time reading to or playing with Otto while dinner cooks—parenting win!

Pork Belly Buffalo Keto Bites

Pork Belly Buffalo Keto Bites Recipe [paleo, primal, gluten-free, dairy-free]

A few weeks ago Heather and I decided to pick up a large package of pork belly at Costco (never go to Costco hungry, folks). We had no plan for what to do with it at the time, but we went ahead and picked it up. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs that shopping trip, so we ended up with way more food at home than we needed and it came to a point where we needed to cook or freeze this pork belly. Since I’ve been mainly following a keto diet for the past 5 months, I decided to pan fry some of the pork belly for fun. As a fan of spicy foods, I quickly tossed the fried pork belly in some Frank’s Red Hot, and I was blown away with how much these taste like tiny, boneless buffalo wings. They’re addictive and super easy—my favorite combination. My only warning is to wear an apron and use a splatter guard, as they kick up a bit of hot grease (especially if you’re making multiple batches).

Enjoy these as buffalo bites, or experiment with your favorite buffalo wing flavors (barbecue, curry, asian sweet and sour). We’ll do a follow up post some time soon with some variations. Happy eating!

Spring Pea and Prosciutto Soup

The past few weeks, the weather here in Washington, D.C., has been oscillating between wintery chills and summer-like warmth. Seriously, a 30-degree swing in temperature from one day to the next is crazy. The cold days leave me wanting stew and steamy roasts and the hot days have me wanting salads and fruit.

A couple of weekends ago, we were having a warm day but I was craving soup. After a bit of research, Brent and I came up with this recipe. Now, you could easily do it in a pot over the stove; but we actually cooked it in our Instant Pot. When finished, I was pleasantly surprised that this tasted a lot like split pea soup but was much lighter. I hope you enjoy as much as our whole family did!

Colcannon Keto Cauliflower Hash

Colcannon Keto Cauliflower Hash Recipe [paleo, primal, gluten-free]

It’s nearly that time of year again where we don our green apparel, or get pinched as a consequence, and drink and eat our favorite Irish meals. This year I wanted to put together something that is Irish in spirit but low-carb. This cauliflower hash, inspired by the traditional potato colcannon, is delicious for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. We know you’ll like it.