Since the summer is winding down, I thought it would be nice to do a recipe that featured some the great vegetables the we have this time of year. I found this recipe for Artichoke Ratatouille Chicken from Judy Armstrong at Taste of Home and it was a near perfect fit. This recipe has plenty of veggies and uses chicken as its protein source. We eat a lot of chicken in our house, so I’m changing it up a bit and using pork tenderloin instead. I wasn’t too concerned about the calories in this dish because of the lean meat and plenty of veggies. Ratatouille is a French dish that is basically stewed vegetables. When eating healthy a flavorful mix of vegetables helps to keep the calories down while providing necessary nutrients and fiber. Here are the original stats:
- 275 Calories
- 9g Fat
- 59mg Cholesterol
- 732mg Sodium
- 914mg Potassium
- 17g Carbohydrate
- 27g Protein
- 30% Vitamin A
- 170% Vitamin C
- 10% Calcium
- 12% Iron
The stats aren’t too bad. A little high on the sodium and low on the vitamin A. A lot of what I’m changing has to do with personal preference in vegetables. We’re not fond of eggplant, which is found in many recipes. Here’s what I changed:
- Swapped the chicken for pork tenderloin
- I replaced the eggplant with zucchini
- I replaced the canned artichokes with frozen to reduce the sodium.
- I replaced the tomato with pumpkin puree
- Added two carrots to increase the vitamin A
- Increased the servings from 6 to 7 to make room for a carbohydrate.
I think this will turn out great. I definitely wasn’t disappointed by the results. Here are the final stats:
- 238 Calories
- 8g Fat
- 55mg Cholesterol
- 366mg Sodium
- 626mg Potassium
- 13g Carbohydrate
- 24g Protein
- 128% Vitamin A
- 143% Vitamin C
- 10% Calcium
- 10% Iron
Here is the final recipe:
Pumpkin Artichoke Ratatouille Pork
Serves 7
- 1 pound zucchini
- 1 medium sweet yellow pepper
- 1 medium sweet red pepper
- 1 medium onion
- 14 ounces frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning, divided
- 1-1/2 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup white wine or chicken broth
- 1/4 cup grated Asiago cheese
- 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
- Preheat oven to 350°. Cut zucchini, peppers and onion into 3/4-in. pieces; transfer to a large bowl. Stir in artichoke hearts, pumpkin, thyme, capers, oil, garlic and 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning.
- Sprinkle pork with remaining Creole seasoning. Transfer pork to a 13×9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray; spoon vegetable mixture over top. Drizzle wine over vegetables.
- Bake, covered, 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 30-45 minutes longer or until pork is no longer pink and vegetables are tender. Sprinkle with cheese.
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