Makes dinner for two, with leftovers for lunch.
Approximate cooking time: 7 hours
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Ingredients
- 1-1/2 lb pork loin
- 1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
- 2 medium (6"-8") zucchini, sliced
- 1 head cauliflower, separated into medium florets
- 1-2 Tbs dried basil
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a large crock pot.
- Cook on high for 6-7 hours.
29 Comments
This was totally awesome. I substituted the sauce for canned whole tomatoes and added 4 cloves of garlic..super good!
trainman414
If I don’t love cauliflower, would broccoli be a good substitute?
krissyard
Feel free to try it, although, the cauliflower is pretty mild in taste, and more of a texture in the meal. You might try 1/2 cauliflower and 1/2 broccoli to see which you prefer in this meal.
Jason G.
I would suggest leaving out the cauliflower and making “mashed cauliflower” as a side. Tastes just like mashed potatoes! yum!
CrossFit Mom For Life
We didn’t add the cauliflower, and added 4 garlic cloves, 1 1/2 onions, used canned tomatoes and added a half can of water. This was really good.
CliffDeb
what size can tomato sauce?
Zach46
I don’t care for foods with a strong tomato flavor, so I use a small 6oz can, but you can use a larger can if you want more tomato flavor.
Jason G.
I bet this would be fantastic with a can of spicy Rotel tomatoes…although I must say I have not checked out their ingredient list to see if it is all paleo.
Chrisjon2003
This was very yummy!! Because this is my first week on the plan I am trying to use a few items on hand which means I used a can of tex-mex tomatoes (great value, Walmart brand). It really gave it a great flavor. I’ll try to find something comparable but low sodium and organic the next time.
romansellbin
What can be substituted for the pork loin? Could we use chicken?
sandysean
I haven’t tried it with chicken, but I imagine it would be fine.
Jason G.
I am used to searing roasts before adding them in a crock pot or oven to seal in the juices and can I sear in coconut oil the loin in Paleo cooking methods?
Dani
Yes, absolutely. I do the same with my roasts.
Neely
I tried the mashed cauliflower, it was delicious! Great substitute for a potato lover!
Lauren
Don’t add the cauliflower until you have an hour left. Otherwise it gets a nasty tase. Aside from that, extremely yummy meal!
fyrhulk
It’s my understanding that canned tomatoes are really bad for you… mostly because of the can, not the tomato of course. I’m not a nutritionist, but the basic idea is that the acid leaches BPA from the can lining into the food. Any problems with using fresh tomatoes or some other alternative?
Leslie
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using fresh tomatoes – I encourage you to do it. Also, Muir Glen switched their tomatoes to BPA cans last year, so some of their products are BPA free. There are still old Muir Glen BPA cans on the shelves, though, so look for expiration dates of 2013 or beyond for the newest cans. Still, there’s no guarantee you’re getting BPA can. That’s what I’ve read, at least. Thanks for the comment!
Neely
Neely Quinn, Nutrition Therapist
Paleo Plan
Neely
trainmen414 did you put whole garlic clover’s or did you mince the garlic?
fefifo19
We’re a no-pork household, but my local grocery store sells turkey tenderloins that work as a great substitute in recipes that call for a pork loin. Seeing as it is just my husband and I, it also ensures that there will be leftovers!
tigerain7
This is a great recipe however I didn’t like how the zucchini got mushy. The smell of the cauliflower bothered me a bit too. We modified this a bit by adding fresh Kale to the pot for the last 20 minutes of cooking. All in all, I’d scrap the zucchini and cauliflower and replace with carrots and tons of kale.
Judie Rahman
Are there instructions for those of us without a crock pot?
jschell
@jschell – Not at this time, no. The crockpot makes this meal really do-able for people during the week, since there’s so little time investment. Can you go out and get a crockpot by chance? They’re not very expensive and can be stored in a closet if you don’t have a lot of counter space for storage. Like this one at Target for $20 would be just fine. If you do it on the stove, it takes a lot of tweaking with the amount of liquid in the recipe, and it takes hours on the stovetop. If anyone else has any suggestions for converting this recipe into a stovetop recipe, we’d love to hear them.
Neely
Delicious but next time we are going to try it without the cauliflower. The smell and taste was very over powering. I love cauliflower, but couldn’t really taste anything else.
Also, I shredded the zucchini in the food processor, it was perfect- I think next time I would triple the zucchini.
Kim
Do I cube the pork loin?
Ted
@Ted – You could if you want, but it’s supposed to be a quick meal, so you might just want to leave it whole.
Neely
Ok, so this was fantastic. I was a little skeptical (I don’t often make pork, I don’t often use my crock pot), but it was so, so good! I used a pork tenderloin (as opposed to a pork loin roast, etc.) and seared it before putting it into the slow cooker. I also sliced and tossed in half an onion I had lying around and 4 whole cloves garlic. My can of sauce didn’t cover my meat to my liking, so I also added 1/4 c. water (however I don’t think this was necessary). I cooked on high for 4 hours, at which point it was done according to my quick read thermometer. Having read the above comments about mushy veggies, I didn’t add my cauliflower and zucchini until the last 1 or 2 hours (already forgotten!). The veggies turned out perfect. At 4 hours, I turned it to low for 30 more minutes until I was ready to eat, at which point the meat fell apart as I removed it to portion out four meals. Amazing.
Brittany
This was absolutely delicious! I followed another’s suggestion and added a sliced onion and some garlic. Highly recommended, especially over spaghetti squash.
Athensalie
Do you think it would be okay to cook it on Low for a longer time? I am away from home for more than 6 hours and have totally burnt some crock pot meals in the past.
ameskm99
@ameskm99 – Yes, I do.
Neely