Indian Inspired Pork with Naan

Tonight's dinner was a matter of personal struggle and a small triumph. The Hubs and I spent the weekend running around like crazy-people. We are trying to get a jump on packing up our apartment for the July 1st move, I am hosting a baby-shower in 2 weeks, and my soon-to-be new land lord offered to let me plant some vegetables in his garden (yay!). Plus I wanted to get my herbs into their pots so that they got a few weeks of growth before I started sacrificing them to my cooking. It's also turned out to be a lovely weekend, which means that we just want to be outside. The warm weather also means that turning on the oven, even for the slightest period of time, turns the whole kitchen into a hot-box. All of this meant that my plan to do roast chicken and potatoes quickly went out the window and I was left with a dilema.

The struggle was over the temptation to just order (which won't be as readily available when we move out of the city) or be a responsible human and cook something from the fridge. Luckily (it was touch and go for a while there) my better self won out; we decided to do something quick and not rely on ordering from Dining In (again). It's also supposed to get a little cooler in the next few days so the chicken will still be making its appearance. In order to be a viable compromise tonight's dinner had to be relatively quick and couldn't involve turning on the oven. So I defrosted some ground pork we got in this month's meat csa and sauteed it with some carrots and onions and Indian spices, serving it over naan (not warmed because they wanted me to turn the oven on to 400 degrees. Not going to happen.) with lettuce dressed in a zingy creamy dressing. All in all it took about 15 minutes to make and was much better than what we could have ordered.

Indian Pork with Carrots and Naan

1/2 pounds ground pork (other meats work just as well, especially lamb)
4 large carrots
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp red curry powder
1 tbsp dried tarragon
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground cardamon
salt and pepper
2 pieces whole wheat naan

For the lettuce
1/2 head butter lettuce
2 tbsp low fat mayonaise
1 tbsp cilantro
1 tsp lime juice

Dice the onion and saute in a large skillet over medium heat with the olive oil for about 5 minutes. While the onion softens peel the carrots and slice them on the bias (at a 45 degree angle). Finely mince the garlic . Add the ground pork to the onions, stirring to combine. After the pork and the onions have been cooking for about 3 minutes, add the carrots and the garlic. Mix all the ingredients together and cook another 5 minutes. Then add all of the spices and cook the mixture until the pork is cooked through and the carrots are just barely softened. Season with the salt and pepper to taste and add additional spices as needed.

While the meat mixture cooks, tear the lettuce into salad-sized pieces and add to a large bowl. Finely chop the cilantro. In a smaller bowl whisk together the mayonaise, lime juice and cilantro. Toss the lettuce with the dressing. It will be a thick dressing, but the heat from the meat and carrots will cause it to melt slightly and will add a tangy freshness to the dish. Serve the meat and carrot mixture over a piece of naan and top with the dressed lettuce. If you can't find commercially prepared naan, feel free to substitute brown rice or a whole wheat pita. Bon Appetit!

Serves 2

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