Wednesday, February 24, 2010

In the words of Rachel Ray, "What's for dinner tonight?"

In our case: Pork medallions with roasted asparagus and Kale.


Does that sound daunting? I just made it up and I like to sound elegant. Really this was like five steps.

I took a pork picnic roast that I got on sale and sliced it into about 1/2-1 inch medallions. You could very easily do this with a pork tenderloin or with just plain pork chops.
I sprayed them with cooking spray and sprinkled on paprika (KILLER with pork), seasoned salt,crushed red pepper flakes (hubby likes the heat), pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. I did the same with the veggies.

Stick on your roasting pan, indoor (or outdoor) grill, or George Foreman.



If you're doing it in the oven like I did set it to broil!



Your asparagus will be ready before the meat. Remove it and tent with foil to keep it warm. Just cook them until fork tender (I never pay attention to cooking times. For shame.)


Replace asparagus with seasoned Kale. Cook that until wilty. Your pork should be done at the same time. The best way to tell if any meat is done without cutting into it: pick the fattest piece of meat and stab it with a fork. Press on it if need be to get juices to run out. If they run clear not red you are good to go!





Plate and serve!



A note about Kale: I love cabbage so I really liked kale. I had never cooked with it before but was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. If you do not like brussel sprouts or cabbage kale will not be for you.

CHALLENGE: Pick out a vegetable or leafy green that you have never tried before and cook it up. You will easily change up your routine (you know how you kind of cook the same 14 dinners over and over again?), you will add SUPER many good nutrients to your meal, you'll impress whoever you are cooking for, and you may even find a new favorite veggie.

Some of my favorites that came about this way:
Asparagus, brussel sprouts, Chard (very good on paninis), and Kale.


2 comments:

Holly Lefevre said...

That looks fantastic. I had never had brussel sprouts and we recently tried them (about 5 months ago) and they are our faves now! I also have a yummy recipe for kale with avocado and some other stuff.

Holly
504 Main

PS-You asked about the plates on one of my tablescapes...I had a craft nightmare that day...the plates were suposed to be completely painted but it was too cold or something and the paint cracked. So, for those plates, I handpainted the cakes on the underside of the plate (so you can still eat off of them) and for the photo I just cut a circle of paper the size of the charger and set the clear plates on top. In the comments for that post is a link to how to do the plates for real!

Ricki said...

Yum! I never use my broiler, but when I see other peoples food turning out so delicious it reminds me to use it.

I just tried a new vegetable this week, Bok Choy. It was so delicious! I believe it's a member of the cabbage family? But it's sweet! A lady in the produce section gave me a great tip, she said to pick a bunch that is smaller at the bottom because it will be sweeter.

We like to saute chard/spinach with onions and put them on dang quesadillas.