Easy Pork Loin Roast

Often, our local Meijer puts their pork loins on sale, which is great because we can eat off of that for a few days.  Check your stores and sale flyers, and stock up on these.  They create quick and easy Paleo meals--but be warned!:  You MUST trim off the extra fat from your loin.  You may want to leave a little on for flavor and good animal fats, but pork loins usually have a whole slab of fat on the bottom and you probably want to take most of that off.

I did mine in a crock-pot because it's easiest, but this can be done in the oven--see the note at the bottom of this page.

Pork Loin Roast

1 large pork loin (we usually get one that is 3-5 lbs)
EVOO
Ground rosemary
Garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Cut the fat slab off the pork loin to make it a leaner cut.  You may also have to cut your pork loin in half to make it fit in your crock pot or roasting pan.

Drizzle the pork loin with EVOO and rub the oil into the loin.  Generously sprinkle the loin with ground rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper, then pat it into the loin to make sure it's coated (don't rub, pat...like a wine stain on your white carpet)

Place the loin into the crockpot (we had to wedge the loin in to make it fit, even after cutting it) and put about 1/3 cup of water at the bottom of the pot.  You could put veggies like carrots, celery, onions, etc. in at this point, but we did it just as-is. 

**If you want to cook this in a roasting pan in the oven, you need to put the water on the bottom of the pan.  Then you want to either put in a small cooking rack or use veggies to keep the roast off the bottom of the roasting pan.  Cover the pan with foil and seal around the edges to keep the moisture in--this will make sure your roast doesn't dry out.  Cook it at 300 degrees for 5 to 6 hours.  The roast should be white (NO PINK!) all the way through when you cut it open**

Cook the roast in the crock pot on low for 2 hours, then on high for 1 1/2 hours.  The roast should be white (NO PINK!) all the way through when you cut it open.

This goes great with roasted broccoli or a nice salad.
Enjoy!

xoxo, M

Roasted Broccoli

Broccoli tastes a little different depending on how you cook it, whether it's steam it fresh, boil it from a frozen bag, or roast it in the oven.  This was my first time roasting it, and it turned out quite yummy!

It's really simple to make, and it goes with pretty much anything.  I got the idea of it from Nom Nom Paleo Roasted Broccoli & Bacon, but I tweaked it a little and didn't use any bacon (although that would be yummy...hmmm I'll be trying that next).

Roasted Broccoli

2 crowns of fresh (uncooked) broccoli
2 Tbl EVOO
Sea salt
Pepper
Garlic powder

Cut up the broccoli crowns and stems and place them into a gal-sized Ziplock bag.  Add the EVOO and sprinkle in the garlic powder to taste (I used a very small amount because we like just a hint of garlic, but you decided what you like).  Now shake it up!  No seriously...shake the bag.  Make sure each pieve of broccoli is coated with some oil and garlic. 

I let it sit overnight in the fridge.

Take a baking sheet and cover it with foil, then spread the broccoli out on the foil.  Sprinkle the salt and pepper on the broccoli.  Place it in an oven pre-heated to 400 degrees and bake for 35 minutes. 

At 35 minutes in the oven, the broccoli with still be a little chewy, but if you hate mushy broccoli then 35 minutes will be good for you.  If you like your broccoli a little softer, then you may want to go for 40 minutes.  Yes, the broccoli will be browned in some spots--that adds flavor, so don't worry, it should look like that.

Enjoy!

xoxo, M