Recipe: Sticky maple pork with apples

 Sticky maple pork with apples

You need:

600g pork fillet

1tbsp olive oil

2 eating apples, cored and cut into eighths

1 garlic clove, crushed

2tbsp maple syrup

1tbsp white wine vinegar

2tbsp wholegrain mustard

rice, to serve

Method:

Put your rice on to cook, according to the packet instructions {I always add cold water to my rice, roughly about 3 parts water to 1 part rice, and only ever stir with a fork}. Cut the pork into slices {I had diced pork, so obviously skipped this step}, and heat the oil in a large, preferably non-stick, frying pan. Add the pork and fry until all sides are slightly browned, then remove from the pan and set aside. Add the apples into the pan, and cook until they start to soften {approx 3-4 minutes}. Stir in the garlic, maple syrup and vinegar {although I didn't have any, so missed that out}, then add 3tbsp boiling water. Bring this to the boil, then return the pork to the pan, ensuring you coat it with all of the yummy maple juices. Simmer for a couple more minutes, making sure the pork is cooked through, and the sauce gets thicker and stickier, then stir through the wholegrain mustard. At this point I stirred in the cooked rice, to ensure it all got coated with the sauce, but you could just serve the rice alongside the pork.

This is a quick and easy meal to prepare of an evening, with very basic store cupboard ingredients and virtually no prep work required. It's also only approx. 303 calories per serving, AND has one of your five a day! Obviously the maple and apple make it pretty sweet, so it might not appeal to everyone, but I personally really liked the combination.

Disclaimer: Original credit for this recipe 'BBC Books Good Food 101 Healthy Eats'.