Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork, Kale, and Mashed Cauliflower

Here I am, finally caught up to tonight's meal. Everyone is a fan of the crockpot meals that you throw in on your way out in the morning, and don't have to worry about again until you're home. The hardest part is having to smell it all day long when you're trying to be productive! MMM!

The three parts of this meal were all randomly combined. You could include whatever sides you want with this dish. I just liked these three things together.

Crockpot Brown Sugar Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients:
2 pounds of pork tenderloin
1 teaspoon of ground sage
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup water

Glaze:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions:
1. Create a rub: mix together sage, salt, pepper, and garlic. Rub on the tenderloin.
2. Add 1/2 cup of water to your crockpot. Add the tenderloin, and cook on low for 6-8 hours. I occasionally drizzled the juice back over the pork from time to time to make sure it stayed moist.
3. About an hour before you're ready to eat, make the glaze. Add the brown sugar, cornstarch, balsamic vinegar, water, and soy sauce together in a sauce pan.
4. Heat the sauce on medium and continue stirring it until it thickens. The recipe says about 4 minutes, but it took me about 10 to get it to a consistency that I was satisfied with.
5. Brush the roast with the glaze 2-3 times in the last hour. If you prefer the crust more caramelized (which I did), take the roast out and put it on a tin foil covered cookie sheet in the oven on broil. Keep it under the broiler for 1-2 minutes at a time until it bubbles, and add more glaze. Repeat until you have a crust you are satisfied with.
6. Serve the remaining glaze as a sauce on the side.

Recipe credit to: http://laurassweetspot.com/2013/06/12/crockpot-brown-sugar-balsamic-glazed-pork-tenderloin/

Sauteed Kale
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs of kale
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic (I minced them)
1/2 cup of vegetable stock or water
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in saucepan and add garlic. Cook until it is soft, but not burnt or colored.
2. Raise heat to high, add stock and kale, stir together to combine.
3. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover and continue cooking and stirring frequently (all liquid should be evaporated).
4. Add vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.
**Don't be afraid of how much kale you have, it shrinks down alot!
*This is only 178 calories per serving.

Recipe credit to: Bobby Flay!

Garlic Mashed Cauliflower
Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower (cut into florets)
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon of reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Steam cauliflower with a steamer in a sauce pan. Bring water to a boil and add the cauliflower, covered, for about ten minutes, or until it is tender.
2. Heat olive oil in skillet until softened (about 2 mins). Then remove from heat.
3. Add about half of cauliflower to food processor; blending until creamy, and slowly add remaining florets. Once creamy, blend in garlic, parmesan cheese, cream cheese, salt, and black pepper.

Recipe credit to: Andie on MyPlateRecipes

Again, these are just three foods I chose to put together. Use your creativity and put together whatever sides you choose. Here is the whole plate: