Hoisin Pork Roast

I found this recipe on Katie’s Kitchen. We had everything on hand and a day off from anything today so I figured I would give it a shot. We served this with Jasmine Rice and an Asian Vegetable blend. We were stuffed & had a bunch leftover. This is a great way to cook pork loin and has a great flavor to it. Enjoy!!


Hoisin Pork Roast
cooking spray
1 boneless pork loin (3 lbs.), tied
1   10oz. jar of hoisin or duck sauce
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
2 T. fresh grated ginger
1 T. chili paste
1 T. rice wine or rice wine vinegar
1 T. soy sauce
2 tsp. dark sesame oil
4 tsp. cornstarch
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup chopped cilantro

Spray the slow cooker with cooking spray and add pork roast.  In a small bowl combine hoisin, garlic, ginger, chili paste, rice wine, soy sauce and sesame oil.  Whisk in corn starch.  Pour sauce over the pork.

Cover the slow cooker and the roast until fork tender or 160 degrees.  Which is about 3 1/2 hours on high heat and 8 hours on low.  Transfer the pork to a platter, cover with foil, and let stand for 10 minutes.  Pour the cooking liquid in a bowl and let stand for 10 minutes, then skim any fat from surface. ** I cooked mine for 6 hours on low and it was perfect.

Slice the pork and arrange on a platter.  Sprinkle the scallions and cilantro on top.  Serve the Asian sauce on the side.

Chili-Lime Steak Salad

I was in the mood for taco salad and ended up coming across this recipe. I’m so glad I did too. It looks like a lot of steps but really, it comes together super easy. Make your dressing at least an hour before you start the rest of it. Take care of the steak and while the steak is grilling & resting, prep the rest of your veggies. In this link, you’ll find the main recipe with links to the dressing and steak rub.

Cancy & I both really liked this. It’s definitely going to be put on the menu again soon.

Chili-Lime Steak Salad

1 1/2 lb flank steak, cooked with lime-chile rub and sliced into 1/4" slices
1 recipe Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing
1 large head romaine lettuce
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
1 red onion, sliced thin
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed in cold water
1-2 avocados, sliced
cilantro for garnish

Start with a nice bed of cold, crunchy lettuce, top with steak, tomatoes, onion, black beans, and avocado.  Top with cilantro and fried tortilla strips if desired.  Serve with lime-cilantro dressing

Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix (ignore directions on the packet)
1C mayo
1/2 C milk
1 lime
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 C roughly chopped cilantro
1/4 C green salsa
hot sauce

Place milk, mayo, and ranch mix in a blender.   Juice the lime in there too, you should get about 2T juice.  Toss in the garlic, cilantro and green salsa.  Blend 'er up.  Sample it and add hot sauce to taste.  Make it several hours ahead of time to allow it to thicken.

Lime-Chili Steak Rub

1 t chili powder
1 t granulated garlic
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t coriander
1/2 t oregano
1/8- 1/4 t cayenne pepper*
3/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
*If you have chipotle chili powder, you can substitute it for the cayenne or just add a little in addition
1 lime (about 2 T lime juice)
1-2 lbs flank steak, or other good grilling cut

Juice the lime into a small bowl. Add spices and stir to combine. Some limes have more juice than others, so sometimes the mixture will be more liquid-y and sometimes it will be more pasty. If you find you're a little short on lime juice, just add a teaspoon or two of extra virgin olive oil to stretch it out.

Place the steak in a shallow dish and pour the spice mixture on top. Use your hands to massage it in there.

Let it sit for 15 minutes. During that time preheat your grill.

Place meat on hot grill. If you're using flank steak it should take about 5-7 minutes on each side.

When steak is finished, remove from grill and let sit for 5 minutes before cutting into it.  Slice in strips against the grain.

Italian Chicken & Marinara

This something I’ve been making for awhile. It’s super easy for those nights when you don’t feel like spending forever in the kitchen. If you can find the fat free croutons, it’s also a fairly healthy italian dish. I hope you like it.

Italian Chicken & Marinara

Chicken
2 Chicken Breasts
1 egg, whisked
1 pkg of croutons, I used fat free seasoned croutons, crushed

Marinara
1 16oz can of tomato sauce
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp each basil & oregeno
4 Tbsp of fat free 1/2 & 1/2

Prepare chicken breasts by dipping in whisked egg, then dredging in crushed croutons.
heat abut 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a medium pan and use this to pan fry breaded chicken.

Saute garlic in the butter until the edges of the garlic begin to brown. Add tomato sauce, salt & herbs. Simmer until ready to serve. Add the 1/2 & 1/2 and heat through just before serving.

Boil 2 servings of pasta until al dente

Lay pasta on plate, set chicken breast on top and pour marinara over top.

A Manly Meal...

Every so often, Cancy grows tired of experimenting and longs for some simple man food. He's a good taste tester for my experiments more often than not, so when he requests simple, I've got to give in.



Steak & Loaded Baked Potato

For our steak marinade, we tend to use a random combination of the following:

Worcestershire, Soy Sauce, Liquid Smoke, Beer, salt & pepper, and red pepper flakes.

Grill it up and you have a man pleasing meal.

Jalapeno Grilled Lamb Tortas

Every once in awhile, I find a really interesting recipe at my grocery store. This was in the April magazine put out by HEB. I’m a huge fan of ground lamb and all things avocado so this seemed like a great fit. Cancy & I both really liked it and it’s perfect for the many spring/summer grilling evenings that we get in Texas.

Jalapeno Grilled Lamb Tortas


1 pound ground lamb
1 cup Diced Sweet Onion
1/2 cup cup fresh chopped cilantro
1 fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
4 whole wheat bolillos (I used small loaves of Ciabatta Bread)
1 cup Grated Cotija Cheese
1 Avocado, thin sliced

Combine lamb, onion, cilantro, and jalapeño. Do not over mix or it will be tough. Shape into 4 patties 1 inch thick.

Heat gas or charcoal grill to medium 375°F to 400°F. Grill for 6 minutes, turning once and cooking to desired degree of doneness (145°F to 155°F internal temperature).

Place patty on half of bread, top with cheese, 3 to 4 slices of avocado, and the top of the bun.

Roasted Red Pepper, Beef & Goat Cheese tossed with Pasta

Yeah pretty original on the name, right? Couldn’t come up with anything creative so here you have it. I was inspired by a flank steak roll that Elly made, but not a fan of sundried tomatoes and not enough patience last night to make the actual rolls. So why not just toss it all together. :)

Roasted Red Pepper, Beef & Goat Cheese tossed with pasta

1/2 lb flank steak, cut into bite sized pieces
1 8 oz jar of roasted red peppers, drained, diced
1 4 oz log of goat cheese (we used 4 pepper goat cheese)
a splash of red wine
1/2 Cup Beef Broth
2 servings of cooked and drained pasta.

In a large pan, brown beef and add red peppers about 1/2 way through. Cook until beef is medium. deglaze the pan by adding about 1/8 - 1/4 Cup of red wine. Let that cooke down. Add the beef broth, let that reduce by about 1/2.

Add the goat cheese by breaking into small pieces and adding a little at a time, stirring to combine as it melts. Add your seasonings at this point. We just used a little garlic salt and some fresh ground black pepper.

Toss with cooked pasta. Enjoy!

Greek Chicken & Pita Bake

I’ve always loved the flavors used in Greek cooking. This is a really simple casserole that goes together quickly and has a nice flavor to it. You could very easily turn this into a vegetarian dish by sticking with the 2 zucchini and adding the tomatoes. All in all, it was a tasty dish. Enjoy!

Greek Chicken & Pita Bake


1  10 3/4-oz. can condensed cream of chicken soup
4 cups chopped cooked chicken (about 1 1/4 lbs.)
2 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2-inch slices (I just used 1 zucchini)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2  cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon Greek seasoning
3  6-inch pita bread rounds, torn into bite-size pieces
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped plum tomatoes (I omitted the tomatoes)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine cream of chicken soup, cooked chicken, zucchini, broth, red onion, garlic and Greek seasoning; mix well. Spoon into an un-greased 9×13 baking pan or dish. (I used an 8*8)

Bake, covered, about 30 minutes or until vegetables are almost tender. Uncover and stir.
In a medium bowl, toss together pita bread pieces, feta, olives and oil. Sprinkle pita mixture and tomatoes over chicken mixture. Bake, uncovered, about 20 minutes more or until top is golden brown.

Baja Chicken Soup

It turned out to be a dark & rainy Saturday so soup sounded pretty good. I found this recipe last week and I had everything on hand so I thought I’d give it a try. I added just a few ingredients to the original and it turned out pretty good. I hope you like it.

Baja Chicken Soup

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut in bite size pieces
1 tbl olive oil
1 can cheddar cheese soup
3 cups chicken broth
1 can ro-tel
2 cans black beans drained and rinsed
1 can corn
1 small can of chopped black olives (not in the original)
1 packed taco seasoning
1/2 C Fat Free 1/2 & 1/2 (not in the original)

Place olive oil in stock pan, heat over medium heat, throw in chicken. Cook until it's white on outside. (It will cook more so make sure and don't cook all the way through). Place can of soup and chicken broth in pot and bring to boil.

Then place rotel, beans, corn, and black olives in pot. Season to your taste with seasoning packet. When you are about 5 minutes from serving, add Fat Free 1/2 & 1/2 just to help cool down the spiciness. Simmer until heated through and ready to eat.

Mongolian Beef

I came across this recipe from Shawnda last week. We don’t normally try our hand at Asian cuisine at home, but we had some flank steak in the freezer and her picture looked delicious. I had to give it a shot. Oh My! This was delicious!! The sauce on this is great. We served this with some edamame & shrimp shumai from the local Asian grocery store. Delicious!



Mongolian Beef

1 lb flank steak, thinly sliced crosswise
1/4 cup of cornstarch
3 tsp vegetable oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup of low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar (measured, not packed)
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 large green onion, sliced thinly

Pat steak slices dry and add to a bowl with corn starch. Toss to ensure all pieces are just coated. Shake off excess corn starch using a strainer.

Heat 1 1/2 tsp oil in a large wok or non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger, stir until fragrant. Add the soy sauce, water, brown sugar and pepper flakes. Cook the sauce for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl.

Turn the heat to high and add the remaining oil to the wok. Add the beef and cook until browned on all sides. Pour the sauce back into the wok and cook until the sauce reaches desired consistency. Add the green onions (a pinch reserved for garnish), stir, and remove from heat.

Plate. Top with remaining onions, and serve.

Crab Salad

With all of our leftover crab from the previous night’s Crab Boil, I decided to make a crab salad. I’m definitely more of a cream cheese then a mayo girl, but you can really adjust this however you want to. I prefer to serve it on an avocado 1/2 with a sprinkle of green onions. Enjoy this light summer meal.


Crab Salad

about 2 Cups of meat from crab legs & claws, torn into small pieces
1 8oz package of Fat Free Cream Cheese
a little less than 1/4 Cup of mayo
2 to 3 Tbsp of skim milk
a splash of lemon juice
salt & pepper

In a medium size bowl combine crab meat, cream cheese, and mayo. Stir gently to combine.
Add milk in a Tbsp at a time until you are happy with the consistency.
Season with lemon juice, salt & pepper.

Serve chilled.