(Family Features) - A casual weekend dinner for friends or a game day huddle around the TV all call for a meal that's simple, substantial, easy on the cook, and delicious.

Salsa Verde Pork and Pasta Stew is ready in under an hour since it's made with lean, tender pork tenderloin which doesn't require long simmering. Simply toss pieces of pork with olive oil and smoky chipotle chili powder, then brown. Chopped onion and prepared salsa verde make the speedy sauce; add black beans if you like.

Serving the stew over rotini pasta is a perfect pairing; the savory sauce clings to the pasta spirals, ensuring that every bite is flavor-filled. By using Dreamfields pasta, there are some added nutrition benefits. Made from durum wheat semolina, Dreamfields provides the same taste and texture as traditional pasta, but you get twice the fiber of traditional pasta, plus fewer digestible carbohydrates (only five grams) per serving. This makes it ideal for everyone in the family, especially those who have diabetes or pre-diabetes. Each serving of this stew with pasta has seven grams of dietary fiber and only 13 grams of digestible carbohydrates (compared to 53 grams if traditional pasta was used). By using a lean meat and minimal added fat, there are only seven grams of total fat per serving. It's a win-win combination.

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Visit www.DreamfieldsFoods.com for more recipes, serving suggestions and nutrition information.

(Family Features) - Now, more than ever, people are looking for tasty ways to trim their waistlines, and their budgets. Staying within both a caloric and financial budget is as easy as updating your menu with a new centerpiece - pork.

Pork is extremely versatile, packs a protein punch and pairs well with almost any flavor. Plus, six of the most common cuts of pork are 16 percent leaner and contain 27 percent less saturated fat than they did 19 years ago.

"Those looking to maintain a healthy weight should not underestimate the power of pork," said Mitzi Dulan, Registered Dietitian. "Research has shown that a diet rich in lean protein helps dieters feel full, which may lead to eating fewer excess calories."

In fact, a study from the Obesity journal found that women who cut calories and included more protein, including six ounces of lean pork per day, kept more muscle mass while losing weight than women who consumed the same amount of calories but less protein.