Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Relish and Brown Rice Pilaf

This meal was my next endeavor out of the Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine and was also a keeper! This photo doesn't look nearly as good as the one in the magazine, but at least it's not scary like my lasagna photo was! The relish is very unusual, not a combination I would ever have come up with on my own, but it was really delicious and packed with antioxidants from the dried cherries. Given my recent successes with this magazine, I think I'll try just one or two more recipes and if those are successes as well, I'll be subscribing for sure!

Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Relish

Pork Rub
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. each dried oregano, tarragon, and crushed dried rosemary (I did not have tarragon and don't particularly care for it, so I substituted dried thyme instead)
2 pork tenderloins (1 lb. each), trimmed

Relish
1 large red onion, sliced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 c. dried cherries
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. crushed dried rosemary

1. In a small bowl, combine garlic powder and herbs; rub over pork. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. For relish, in a large saucepan, saute onion in oil until tender. Add sugar; cook and stir over medium heat for 10 minutes or until onion is browned. Add the cherries, vinegar, and rosemary. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

3. Place pork on a rack in a shallow roasting pan lined with foil. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 - 30* minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with relish.

Nutrition Facts: 3 oz. cooked pork with 2 Tbsp. relish equals 217 calories, 7 g fat, 63 mg cholesterol, 46 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 23 g protein.

*I first took the pork out after 25 minutes and my meat thermometer only read 120 degrees. So I put it back in for another 5 minutes, checked it and it was only 130 degrees. I put it in for another 8 minutes two more times and the thermometer never got above 140 degrees, but the meat was clearly done. So I don't know if my thermometer was broken or my tenderloins were thicker than usual or what, but if you make this, plan on possibly needing to cook it longer than 30 minutes.

Brown Rice Pilaf
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/4 c. uncooked brown rice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 c. water
1 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/4 tsp. pepper

In a large saucepan, saute onion and green pepper in oil until tender. Add rice and garlic; cook and stir for 3 - 4 minutes or until rice is lightly browned. Add the water, broth, thyme, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 35 - 40 minutes or until rice is tender. Fluff with a fork.

Nutrition Facts: 3/4 c. equals 181 calories, 3 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 99 mg sodium, 34 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber, 4 g protein.

Lasagna

I've never really thought lasagna needed a recipe. After all, it's just layers of meat and cheese and sauce and noodles, right? Well, I found a lasagna recipe makeover in a Taste of Home Healthy Cooking magazine and given my current quest to try eating healthier, I thought it was worth a try. Turns out I loved it and I think it's going to be my new go-to way to make lasagna from now on! I took a picture to post with the recipe, but I am a horrendous photographer of food, so I decided against posting the picture - don't want to scare anyone away!

I ordered a free trial issue of the magazine and I'm trying to make a few of the recipes from it before I decide if I want to continue or cancel the subscription. Here's the recipe - let me know if you try it!

Lasagna Deliziosa
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 pkg. (20 oz.) Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1 large onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can (12 oz.) tomato paste
1/4 c. water
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. fennel seed (I omitted this)
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 container (15 oz.) reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley (I used dried and just decreased the quantity a little)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. When done, drain and rinse in cold water. Meanwhile, in a Dutch oven, cook the sausage, beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain the extra grease.

2. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, basil, fennel, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. In a small bowl, combine the egg, ricotta cheese, parsley, and salt. Spread 1 cup meat sauce in a 13 x 9 in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with three noodles, 2 cups meat sauce*, 2/3 c. ricotta cheese mixture, 2/3 c. mozzarella, and 1/4 c. Parmesan. Repeat layers twice.

4. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 - 15 minutes longer or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Nutrition facts**: 1 piece equals 323 calories, 12 g fat, 79 mg cholesterol, 701 mg sodium, 28 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 25 g protein.

*To me, it made a lot more sense to put the ricotta on the noodles first and then add the meat sauce, so that's what I did. It's a heck of a lot easier to spread the ricotta mixture over flat noodles than it is to spread it over saucy meat!
**The magazine didn't say how many pieces they cut the pan into, so I don't know exactly what serving size those nutrition facts are for. I have a sneaking suspicion I cut my pieces a lot bigger than I'm supposed to, but then I guess it's a good thing that I used turkey sausage and lower fat cheeses!

Pumpkin Pumpkin Everywhere!

I'm finally just about settled in to my new condo! I still have some things to buy and some decorating to do, but for the most part, everything is in its place! I even started doing some stamping this weekend - I missed it! I'll share some of those cards later tonight or tomorrow, but for now I thought I'd blog about food!

I love this time of year and all the food that's associated with it. I especially love anything pumpkin so when I saw recipes for pumpkin chili and pumpkin cornbread on the Recipe Girl website, I knew I needed to make them. I'll post the recipes with some comments on changes I made, but check out Recipe Girl for literally thousands of recipes that all look so so good!

Pumpkin Chili
1 lb ground beef
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
1 clove garlic, minced
Two 14½oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 cup pure pumpkin pureé
1 Tbs ground chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin seed
½ tsp ground black pepper
dash of salt
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
½ cup sour cream

1. Brown ground beef in large sauté pan with onion, green pepper and garlic. Spoon off grease.
2. Return to heat and add tomatoes, pumpkin, chili powder, cumin, pepper and salt. Mix well. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
3. Serve topped with cheese and sour cream.

My notes:

• I used ground chicken instead of beef because it was cheaper, but it's also a slightly healthier alternative.
• I put at least 3 Tbsp of chili powder in my regular chili recipe, so the 1 Tbsp called for here seemed like not enough to me. I added a little bit extra - not too much because I was hoping to have the pumpkin flavor shine through, so I probably put in about 1.5 Tbsp
• I cooked this in my crockpot, so I did not cook the onions, garlic, and peppers with the meat. I browned the chicken and drained off the grease, and just threw the vegetables right into the crockpot after chopping them. I let it cook on low for about 5 hours.

The verdict: This was very good as far as flavor goes, but I did not detect any trace of pumpkin at all, either in taste or smell. It tasted pretty much like another other chili I've made, just less spicy. I don't know if the 1/2 Tbsp extra chili powder I put in was too overpowering, but I kinda doubt it. I also expected the pumpkin to make the chili a little thicker, but I actually found it a little more watery than my regular chili. It wasn't bad, just not what I was expecting. So all in all, this was a good recipe, but if anything, next time I'd probably just make my usual chili and add some pumpkin to that if I wanted some extra vitamins!

Pumpkin Cornbread
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup cornmeal
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree (canned or freshly cooked and processed)
2/3 cup brown sugar
¼ cup canola oil
1 Tbs molasses

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease 10-inch glass pie pan or 9-inch square baking pan.
2. Sift flours, baking powder, salt and spices in a large mixing bowl. Whisk in cornmeal.
3. In separate bowl, beat eggs lightly. Whisk in pumpkin, brown sugar, oil and molasses.
4. Make a well in the dry mixture. Add pumpkin mixture and blend batter with a few quick strokes (just until blended- don't overmix).
5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cornbread is browned and the surface has a slightly springy feel.

My notes: Though the recipe called for half all-purpose and half whole wheat flour, I used only all-purpose. I've never used whole wheat flour in my life and couldn't justify spending $4 on a bag of flour for a recipe that calls for 1/2 cup of it. I don't know if the wheat flour is supposed to serve any purpose other than being healthier, but I didn't notice that using a full cup of all-purpose made anything go horribly wrong!

The verdict: Very good! The pumpkin taste and smell was subtle, but it was definitely there. It was a little dense, and maybe that's because of the flour, but then I don't usually think of cornbread as being completely light and airy anyway. There are a good number of ingredients, but it was easy enough to make and a nice change from your normal cornbread.

Oh. My. Goodness.

My mouth is so happy right now! My friend Stacy shared a recipe with the LOSTies this week, more as a joke than anything. We are a pie-loving bunch, but have some rules about pies with meat in them. I personally don't condone meat in a dessert pie, but have no qualms about meating up savory pies. So I happened to think the pie she posted looked delicious and I knew I had to make it pronto. Well make it I did and it is so so good. The flavor combination is so wonderful and, while it was a little bit time consuming to make, it wasn't difficult. This one's a keeper! So without further ado...

You can find the recipe for Apple and Sausage Pie here. Go, check it out now, and make it immediately! One little note - I chose to use asiago rather than the other choices of fontina or provalone just because I love asiago quite a bit. Other than that, I have no other comments because I followed the recipe to a T and wouldn't do it any other way! Well, on second thought, I might decrease the amount of sausage a tad to make room for more apples, but it wasn't like the sausage was overpowering or anything, so I'd make it as the recipe says on your first try.

I also have Stacy to thank for introducing me to Scentsy. I've had their Simply Irresistible scent melting all day and my living room smells soooo good! This is my favorite of their scents - it smells like an irresistible man with good taste in cologne or body wash. YUM!

Shrimp Scampi

I have been craving shrimp scampi for about a week now and finally caved in and made it for dinner tonight. This is one of my specialties (well, mine and Tyler Florence's, since I stole the recipe from him) but I try not to make it too often because it's not what you might call health-conscious. But it's oh-so-delicious and just what I needed tonight! And I'm excited that I actually remembered to take a picture before I dug in so you could get a look at this buttery, garlicky goodness! I didn't have any parsley, so I had to leave that out. And I added some parmesan cheese on top after I took this picture just for some extra calories and fat! My main recommendation if you try this recipe is to have tons of French bread on hand for dipping. I generally go a little heavy handed on the butter, olive oil, wine and lemon juice so there's extra yummy sauce. Mmmmm!

I'm so stuffed right now and am very thankful for the elastic waistband on the shorts I'm wearing. I have a dessert craving that I decided to indulge in tonight as well, so stay tuned for a post on that when I feel up to eating again!

Dinner...

I love to cook. I really do. I just seem to never do it anymore. Well tonight I made one of my new favorite recipes and figured since this is the closest thing to cooking that I've done in a while, I'll share it! It's LOSTie Chatapalooza weekend which, for many of us, is a great excuse to chow down on junk food! So for my evening munching, I made this Buffalo Chicken Dip with a few variations.

First off, I don't use canned chicken. Both times I've made this, I've gotten Boars Head Buffalo Style chicken breast from the deli. I have them slice it pretty thick, about half an inch, and then just dice that up. It's quick and easy and adds extra buffalo flavor. Of couse, you could also bake or boil some chicken breasts yourself, but really, I can't be bothered with that most of the time. I also tend to go heavy on the hot sauce because I love it and lighter on the ranch dressing because I'm not crazy about it. Because I eat this with an inexcusable amount of Fritos Scoops, I try to lighten the dish by using Neufchatel (sp??) instead of cream cheese, light dressing, and low fat cheddar cheese.

Now, I ordinarily do NOT believe in going low fat when it comes to cheese. To me, low fat cheese usually = rubbery puke. But in this dip, there are so many other flavors going on that you don't even notice it. Plus, the full fat cheese tends to emit an oil when it's melted into the dip and let's face it, that just ain't pretty.

I meant to take a picture to add to this post, but I dug in too quickly. Oops! So the picture on Allrecipes.com will have to suffice. If you decide to give this dip a try, let me know how you like it!