Rosemary Tenderloin With Warm Asparagus Salad

Haven't made tenderloin in a while so trying it again. It's actually pretty easy to cook. Yes it would be better if I cooked part of it in the oven, but who has time to remember it's in there when I've got things on the stove top and a baby to watch. Right? 

Pork Tenderloin
Cornstarch - seals in the juices
Soy sauce
Rosemary
Cumin
Garlic

Warm salad:
Asparagus
Butter
Salt
Costco kale salad (minus fixings)

Marinate the tenderloin and then pan sear...I think 5 min per side? You want it to be medium in the middle. Yes, contrary to what I've been taught all my life, good quality pork can be eaten medium! So much juicier and softer!

The salad is prepared by sauteing the asparagus in butter. As it's getting soft I add the Costco kale salad. And when everything is warmed, but not wilted, it goes onto the plate. The seasoning is kept simple because of time...but let me know what seasoning you find works!

Enjoy!

Cumin Fatty Beef

Tis the season for hotpot...and sometimes we forget we can't eat as much as we used to in our youth. In this case, we had an extra pound of fatty sliced beef leftover. It can't be refrozen...so what to do? This:

Fatty sliced beef
Onion
Cumin
Caraway seeds
Chili pepper 

Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Salt
Green onion garnish

Sauté the onions with the spices, add the beef. Continue sautéing with the rest of the seasoning until all the liquid is evaporated. Then garnish with green onions for color. Goes great with rice! (What's even better is to do this with sliced lamb.) Enjoy!

Apple Cumin Pork Tenderloin

Pork tenderloin is actually pretty easy to cook...especially when baking it. I made this similarly to this recipe which was baked with fennel. This time, it's baked with apple. 

Pork tenderloin

Apple

Onion

Cumin

Cinnamon

S&P

I rubbed the tenderloin with the seasoning spices while the onions were browning in a pan. Then I added the pork loin to sear for about a minute on each side. The whole thing is transferred to a baking sheet, apple slices added, covered with foil, and  baked until internal temp of tenderloin is 130 F. Baking time gives me time to cook the Brussels Sprouts and barley.

Gazpacho

Fall means harvest time and we were passed a ton of heirloom tomatoes from my Uncle. One giant yellow one was too old and ripe to eat by itself so I thought a gazpacho would be nice to cap off the last of the summer harvest. I looked up recipes for inspiration and then made my own. Sorry, the picture should really feature the gazpacho in the top right corner and not the rest. =) But what a colorful meal no?

Tomatoes

Cucumber

Purple Onion

Garlic

Balsamic Vinegar

Lemon Juice

Cayenne Pepper

Cumin

Tomato Juice

Olive Oil

Basil for garnish

Just puree everything raw, add S&P to taste and enjoy! 

Salmon was seared with rosemary, garlic, S&P. Salad is bagged kale salad mix from Costco. And basmati rice...leftover from Indian take out. 

Cumin wings on sweet potato spinach salad

 

I love chicken wings...and so I bought some. I was too lazy to mince garlic for some honey garlic wings (plus I can't really eat the honey right now) so I went with my next favorite flavor which is curry/cumin wings. There was a random sweet potato in my fridge so this got worked in as well.

Chicken Wings

Cumin

Soy sauce

Coconut sugar (or any sugar you want....I just used a slight pinch though normally I'd probably use a tbsp or two)

Salad:

Gouda cheese

Sweet potato - cubed and pan seared in butter

Spinach

Dressing:

Grainy mustard

Olive oil

Cider vinegar

a couple drops of Stevia (plant based, zero glycemic index, sweetener)

It was a nice hearty salad. The sweet potato was filling when paired with some meat. Yum.

Warm Israeli couscous salad

 

Another meal where I didn't have enough of anything to make as a main....but the bits and pieces could come together in one of my favorite catch-alls : a salad. Other great catch-alls...stir fry. Stew. Soup. Fried rice. Pita pockets. Lots. =)

Pork cubes

Soy sauce
Israeli Couscous
Cumin
Yams
Gailan
Pine nuts
Butter
Green Onions
Garlic  

S&P

Basically...cook everything separately and then toss together. The only exception are the green onions. That I tossed in at the end when assembling. That way it won't brown and get mushy.

Beef stew

 

Another stew...cuz it's still cold out. =)

I used veal brisket as stewing meat...and these ingredients:

 

Tomatoes
Onions
Caraway seeds
Paprika
Cumin
Ketchup
Srirracha   

Rice wine

S&P to taste

Onions were softened first with the herbs. Then the brisket pieces were browned with the onions. Then a dash of rice wine (I didn't have red wine in the house.) The tomatoes went in after that along with ketchup (I didn't have tomato paste in the house) and srirracha. Heat was turned low for a nice simmer. And the consistency turned out just fine with the tomatoes releasing the water it had. I didn't have to add any more liquid surprisingly.

The only down side was that I only had about 40 minutes to stew the meat before it was served. While it was cooked through, it remained on the chewy side. It tasted great though.

My husband made a variation of this recently but it got to sit in a thermal cooker overnight. OMG. The brisket was melt in your mouth. I just need to plan a little further in advance....like I would need to for the ox tail stew. =)

Sweet Potato Pork Pasta

Alliteration! I'm referring to the "potato pork pasta" bit. Anyways....I had bits of everything in the pantry and fridge and none of it was enough by itself to make a meal for two. So I mixed it all together into a pasta dish. Kinda like how you mix in bits of everything into fried rice.

Butter
Yam
Sweet potatoes
Paprika
Cumin
Garlic salt
S&P
Pork
Pasta
Chipotle mayo


The yam and sweet potato was cubed and pan fried in a bit of butter and seasoning to start things off while the pasta was cooking. I sliced up the leftover chipotle mayo port chop and warmed it with the yam/potatoes, then added the pasta at the end. I added more chipotle mayo as seasoning (because I love chipotle mayo with yam fries) and the end result was tasty and filling.

Christmas Steak

And just like that, Christmas is upon us! This isn't Christmas dinner, but it's close.

Boneless rib steak:
Montreal Steak Spice
Chopped cilantro
Olive Oil

Mushrooms:
Garlic
Paprika
Cumin
S&P

Salad:
Baby Kale
Chick Peas
Pomegranate
Avocado

Dressing:
Tahini
Grainy Mustard
Maple Syrup
Lime juice

Everything was delicious. The steak was eaten with a wedge of lime for a nice citrus note. And, the vitamin C from the lime helps your body absorb the iron better from the red meat. Just FYI.

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones. 

The Love, Joy and Peace of Christ be upon your household. 

And may every good and perfect gift find its way to you in the New Year!

Baked Portobello Caps

The picture doens't look like much...but those are baked portobello mushroom caps. I've always wanted to try cooking portobello...this was my first time! I didn't know it's actually a tedious process to scrap the brown gills looking stuff from the underside of the caps first. It ended up taking way longer than I expected so the stuffing for the caps overcooked on the stove (and then I had to bake everything afterwards.) Oh well...live and learn.

Stuffing:
Zucchini
Tomatoes
Onion
Diced mushroom stalks (cut from the portobello)
Panko
S&P
Dried herbs
Cumin

Sides were couscous and Shanghai bok choi.
It tasted good...but yeah, stuffing was over cooked. Next time!

Grilled Zucchini

I know...I've totally fallen off the routine....but I promise it's for a good reason. So stay tuned! Meanwhile, I did manage to get a few more items on camera to share.

It's nearing the end of BBQ season...sadly...but this was one of my favorites through summer: Grilled whole zucchini. (Under the pile of grilled cauliflour...which is also good.) What I love about the grilled zucchini is 1) it tastes really good and 2) I don't have to cut up all the little pieces and turn them each on the grill.

Zucchini - cut lengthwise
Coconut oil spray
S&P
Whatever dried herbs you feel like
Served with some tahini dressing is really nice...but on its own is good too

Cauliflour
Grapeseed oil
S&P
Cumin
Paprika

(Both coconut oil and grapeseed oil can handle being in high heat without burning, unlike olive oil. So it's healthier to use these oils on the grill.)

Grill. Enjoy!
And in another month or so when it's too cold/wet to be outside to grill, just put it in the oven. =)

Yam Latkes and Egg with Tomato Salad

Sorry the lighting wasn't very good on this one. I saw something about sweet potato latkes in a magazine somewhere so I thought I'd give it a try. SUPER DELICIOUS...especially with a fried egg on top and when the yolk oozes over the crispy yam latke!!

Latke:
Shredded yellow yam
Eggs
Flour
Cumin
Paprika
Curry powder

Tomato Salad:
Regular tomatoes on the vine
Some kind of darker heirloom tomatoes
Yellow bell pepper
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Dried herbs
S&P to taste

Crustless Quiche

I was too lazy to make a crust...so I made one of my regular quiches in a cast iron pan, then put the whole thing in the oven to bake. Lovely.

Kale
Mushrooms
Onion
Cheese
Eggs
Almond Milk (remember it's 3 eggs to 1 cup milk)
Cumin
Paprika
Salt/Pepper



One of the best parts was that I did the whole thing in the same pan from start to finish. A couple less dishes to wash. =)

Roasted Cauliflower

This is a new favorite!
I'm not a cauliflour fan usually...but I heard all this talk about roasted cauliflour being delicious so I had to try.



I tossed the cut cauliflour in grapeseed oil (which doesn't burn or get rancid under high temperatures), salt, paprika and cumin. Then just baked them at 400 F until it started to brown. Turned/stirred once.

It was SO GOOD. I'm converted! I was going to save the leftovers for lunch but my husband and I just ate the rest with our fingers like it was popcorn. Enjoy!!

(Apparently, if you do the same with cheese instead, kids will even love it.)

Warm Sweet Potato Broccoli Salad

What do you do when you have a little bit of a couple different veggies but not enough of any for a good meal size serving? You throw it all together and call it stew or soup or in my case, salad. The yams take longer than broccoli to cook so I started with them in a pot with some butter. Added a tiny bit of water to get the steam going. Then I cut up the broccoli and added it. BUT, I didn't watch the timing so I ended up with overcooked broccoli. Ah well...still tasty. With the added water and moisture from the broccoli, there ended up being enough "sauce" to coat the salad so I didn't need to make a dressing. The contrast of soft warm veggies with the crisper cooler leaves was quite nice. The heaviness of the yam made it possible to be full as well.

Yam/sweet potato
Broccoli
Box mixed greens salad
Paprika
Cumin
Sugar

 

Sautéed Kale with Onions

I found this Italian kale at the grocery and thought I'd give it a try. The leaves are softer than the regular kale I'd find at Superstore so I wanted to see how it'd taste. Usually we're asked to cut away the stalks of the regular kale and it feels like such a waste but these ones, I could throw everything in to cook. Super simple side for anything.

Kale
Onion
Cumin
Paprika (this Cumin paprika mix is totally one of my favorites as you can probably tell)
S&P

Covered it for a bit and then sautéed until the moisture was gone.

Bean Patties

Yup still going strong on the vegetarian kick. I still really love a good marbled piece of rib eye steak, med rare with a nice sear...but a much smaller piece now. Less is more! Anyways, as summer is swinging in, visions of bbq's and grills and burgers and wings start to float in. I realize the picture is of patties in a frying pan, but that's really only because we hadn't filled up our propane tank for the bbq yet.

So, patties...I've tried veggie burgers and I really don't like the ones that imitate beef patties. If I wanted beef patties, I'll eat beef patties. In this case, I wanted to try making bean patties....see if it can taste good. And also because that huge tub of nine-bean mix I bought at Costco isn't being used up fast enough.



I kinda followed this recipe for a Black Bean Veggie burger. I used a nine bean mix instead of just black beans. Sriracha instead of chili powder. Added paprika to the mix. And used flour instead of bread crumbs...because I didn't have any and didn't want to waste my bread to make some.

Everything was mashed/mixed by hand because we don't have a food processor. And maybe it could'e used more flour (or bread crumbs) because it wasn't holding together very well. The cooked result was quite crumbly too so it's a good thing I didn't put it on the grill. BUT, it was very tasty indeed. Yay!

Saucy Veggie Omlette...not really

I don't know what this is called....when you crack eggs into sautéed veggies. It's not a fritata, it's not a Spanish omlette, it's not really an omlette either....meh. It was tasty! And an easy way to use up various veggies in the fridge. I served it with some garlic naan to soak up some of the sauce.



I sautéed everything until it was nearly done, made four "wells" that I cracked the eggs into. Covered it for a few minutes then served it.

Button mushrooms
Yellow Pepper
Broccoli
Onion
Eggs
Cumin
Paprika
Sugar
Basil flakes
Garlic
S&P
 

Broccoli Mushroom Quinoa Salad

Another Meatless Monday and I was toying with the idea of a warm salad. The broccoli, yellow heirloom tomatoes and mushrooms in my fridge was asking to be used but it wasn't quite enough to make three meal-size servings. (I like to have enough to pack my Husband lunch the next day.) I was tired of pasta so the next carb-type substance I thought of was quinoa. It cooks quickly, has great protein, is low in gluten and has a low glycemic index. I love the stuff.

I cooked the broccoli, 'shrooms and quinoa separately then tossed it together with the tomato and dallops of ricotta in a casserole dish before putting it in the oven for 15 min to meld the flavors together. I guess you could call this a casserole too...but I'm sticking with the warm salad description.

Broccoli - tossed in grapeseed oil, S&P and roasted
King oyster mushroom - sautéed with onion in cumin, paprika, salt, garlic salt in butter
Ricotta
Yellow Tomato
Quinoa

Super yummy...it will be going into rotation...when I next have these ingredients in my fridge at the same time. =)

Sautéed Mushrooms

I love mushrooms. I think my two favorite ways to eat mushrooms is in a chunky creamy soup or sautéed...which is what this post covers.

This one is sautéed in butter, seasoned with:
Chopped garlic
Cumin
Paprika
Salt
Chili flakes

Once everything is nicely coated with butter and spices, I cover the pan for a few minutes so that the moisture from the mushrooms come out. Then I uncover and let the water evaporate. I'll leave a minute or two between each time I stir so that the mushrooms almost char. Super yummy.