Week Three: Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Sautéed Apples, Tomato Basil Soup, and Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas

We're still cookin'. It was a great week.

Spiced Pork Tenderloin

with Sautéed Apples

As you may recall, we've been rolling in apples over here...from our Iced Oatmeal-Applesauce Cookies from Week One of my new meal planning adventure, to our actual homemade applesauce from Week Two. And believe it or not, we still had apples left to spare. I was lucky to find a perfect fall dinner recipe (with apples) pretty quick into my recipe research for this week.

This awesome recipe came from the November 2012 issue of Cooking Light, so very current, evidently.  Find the recipe here: Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Sautéed Apples. They recommend using Braeburn or Gala apples (whose red peels are very pretty in Cooking Light's picture of the recipe), but I just went ahead and used what I had on hand. The combination of apples with the thinly sliced shallots is really good. Furthermore, the flavors in this dish are really delightful and cozy for a cold, fall evening. Coriander, cinnamon, nutmeg, apple cider...okay, so this is pretty much dessert for dinner. But good for you...? Ha. No, but really, this is true. I also served this dish with sautéed green beans.

So. Since we're talking pork. How done is done? As in, how pink or not pink should your pork be? It's funny, because people usually error on the side of overcooking something versus undercooking. But for some reason, I tend to do the opposite. I am so terrified of overcooking things! I don't know what it is! I just hate when my chicken is dry because I sautéed it for too long. Or my cookies have a gritty crunch to them because they continued to brown/cook after I took them out of the oven. Do you hear me, or do you hear me? So what do you do? You look it up on the internet. And apparently the USDA standard for pork is 145-degrees, which was lowered from 160-degrees not too long ago (much to the happiness of many professional chefs (I mean, I think so, but I probably shouldn't say since it's not like I'm best friends with Michael Ruhlman or Anthony Bourdain)). But there's a good idea for you none the less: 145-degrees for pork.

Tomato Basil Soup

with Grilled Cheese and Ham Sandwiches

Since Nordstrom's Split Pea Soup was so tasty, I thought I would give another one of their soups a try. Seriously, when did Nordstrom become known for something more than clothes and whatnot? I've been pretty impressed with their recipes after I was gifted one of their cookbooks last year for Christmas.

Well, I thought this recipe that I found was actually one of Nordstrom's recipes...from one of their cookbooks. But after perusing the internet, I realized that this is someone's interpretation or imitation of some amazing tomato soup made at the Nordstrom Cafe. Long story short, I found this recipe from someone's blog through Pinterest. Find it here: Tomato Basil Soup. 

The flavor is really good. Make sure you use real good quality canned tomatoes, such as San Marzano tomatoes; can't go wrong. You know what they say, always use good quality ingredients, especially if there are very few ingredients being used.

So, I'll just be honest and say that I sort of felt like I was eating really good marinara sauce while eating this soup. The writer and creator of the recipe said to leave a little texture to the soup when pureeing it with an immersion blender, and let's just say I think I left plenty. I would recommend not as much next time around. However, that being said, the flavor was fantastic and this soup was great with grilled cheese and ham sandwiches.

This is the greatest bread for grilled sandwiches and French toast.

It sort of feels like cheating using canned tomatoes, but hey, that way you can make a good tomato soup all year round. Plus, you don't have to wait or try to find perfectly ripe tomatoes, which is hard sometimes. And goodness, don't make tomato soup with tomatoes that are not truly juicy and red, and pretty much falling apart. I've done that before. You'll end up with orange tomato soup. Not so great. Nice and ripe canned tomatoes. Great.

Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas

Yes, I realize it's not actually summer right now...

I happened to find and tear out this recipe at the same time as the pork tenderloin recipe above. So, this one is also from Cooking Light. Find the recipe here: Chicken and Summer Vegetable Tostadas. Using frozen corn makes this a year-round option, but there's nothing like fresh corn on the cob. So I bought frozen corn on the cob, but it was a little strange. Kind of soft and not the same as fresh corn on the cob. Probably won't do that again. Luckily, the flavor was good and the lack of crisp-tenderness that I was wanting wasn't all to evident once stirred into the rest of the dish. Who knows, maybe I overcooked it and that was the problem. But I'm the one who never overcooks anything, remember? He he.

I've made tostadas like these before with the corn, zucchini, and red onion. It really is a great flavor combination. Plus, some good salsa verde just tops it off. Yum. The flavors and textures are just so wonderful.

A great, spicy salsa for dishes like this.

We made it easy and just made tacos (warmed our tortillas instead of toasting), but either way is delicious. Goodness, you could make burritos with this too. You could make a kind of fresh Mexican pizza. Ha ha. Okay, maybe that would be weird, but what I'm getting at is the is a great chicken and vegetable mixture.

That's it for now. Have a good weekend!

Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos

Okay, it's been awhile. I guess I've taken a hiatus of sorts from blog writing. We've been cooking, but after work, you don't always feel like taking the time to snap photos as you cook or take pictures of your plate, when all you want to do is sit down and chow down. And what's a blog without photos?! We've been busy to say the least, but I'm enjoying my new job and all that has come with it.

So. Cilantro lime chicken tacos. We made these a week or so ago, but they are so worthy of a blog post, even if it is a little late. This is our favorite kind of Mexican: fresh. And these were so flavorful and full of many different textures. The vinaigrette is incredible; it could really be used for a lot of things...burritos, tostadas, salads, etc. And as you cook the ground chicken (instructions to follow), flecks of cilantro kind of get embedded in it and add great flavor. So meaty, but fresh and light at the same time. Top with a bunch of fresh, crunchy veggies, and you have a winner.

Zack made the cilantro lime vinaigrette (I recruited him to speed up preparations for this weeknight meal). To make the vinaigrette, combine rice vinegar, fresh lime juice, honey, minced garlic, and a pinch of kosher salt in a blender. Add canola oil to the blender in a thin, steady stream to form an emulsion. Add fresh cilantro and process until vinaigrette is deep green with green flecks of cilantro.

To make the chicken filling, add ground chicken, chopped fresh cilantro, minced garlic, and salt and pepper to a large skillet with canola oil over medium-high heat. Cook completely, breaking up any chunks. Then, reduce heat, stir in fresh lime juice and soy sauce, and cook for 1-2 minutes.

Divide the chicken mixture amongst corn tortillas, top with shredded romaine lettuce, and drizzle with the vinaigrette. Add fresh pico de gallo, chopped yellow bell pepper, and crumbled queso fresco. Enjoy.