How to make Asian pork sliders with cabbage and noodle salad

Ree Drummond and her best friend Cyndi Kane joined "GMA" Monday to share two recipes from Kane's new cookbook, "Save-It-Forward Suppers."

Together the pair showed a simple Asian pulled pork slider recipe, plus an accompanying Asian cabbage and noodle side dish.

"This is all about saving things forward," Kane explained, noting it's particularly helpful with grocery bills on the rise for meals to due double duty. "There's no waste."

"This whole cookbook is about taking things from different meals of the week and spinning them into other meals," Drummond said. "I love this cookbook because it's for real home cooks and it's an approach and a strategy."

Asian Pulled Pork Sandwiches

"In our part of the world here in Oklahoma, "pulled pork" nearly always means barbecue, which bores me a tad. So I came up with an Asian version, complete with a lovely sauce for drizzling."

Ingredients
2 pounds uncooked pork loin, saved forward
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons minced garlic
½ teaspoon table salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ cup rice wine vinegar or other vinegar
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 to 2 tablespoons sriracha, to taste
¼ cup lightly packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Hamburger or slider rolls, for serving

Directions
Trim the pork loin of any excess fat, though leaving a thin layer is fine. Make a paste of the sesame oil, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper and rub all over the pork loin. Combine the vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, sriracha, brown sugar and ½ cup of water in a slow cooker and stir to combine. Add the pork loin and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 4 to 6 hours, until the meat shreds easily with two forks.

Remove the pork to a cutting board. Let it cool slightly, then shred into bite-size pieces.

Pour all but 1 cup of the liquid from the slow cooker into a small saucepan and keep it warm on the stove. Return the meat to the slow cooker, stir it with the liquid remaining in the cooker, and set the cooker to warm.

To make the sauce, whisk the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Add the slurry to the sauce on the stove, bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 1 minute, until thickened, stirring constantly.

Serve the meat over warmed rolls and drizzle with the sauce.

Asian Cabbage and Noodle Salad

"If you want to make this salad gluten-free or low-carb, just skip the spaghetti and add more cabbage."

Ingredients
1/2 small head Savoy cabbage, cut into thin shreds across the grain
2 cups cooked spaghetti, saved forward, cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
1 cup chopped veggie of your choice, saved forward
2 green onions, thinly sliced, or ¼ cup thinly sliced yellow or white onion
3 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon table salt, plus more to taste
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Directions

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, combine the cabbage with ½ cup of water. Cook on medium-high heat until it turns bright green, about 4 minutes, stirring often. Drain off the excess water and add the spaghetti. Stir until warmed.

Place the cabbage and noodle mixture in a serving bowl and top it with the cilantro, chopped veggie and green onions.

Whisk the sesame oil, soy sauce, lime juice, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Pour the sauce over the vegetable and noodle mixture, stir to combine, and serve warm (or any temp is good!).

From Save-It-Forward Suppers by Cyndi Kane. Copyright © 2022 by Cyndi Kane. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.