Tangy Pork with Tomatillos, Tomatoes, and Cilantro

I got the recipe here.

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon chili powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
* 1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
* 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
* Cooking spray
* 1 cup chopped Vidalia or other sweet onion
* 1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
* 2 cups chopped tomatillos (about 8 ounces)
* 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes (about 8 ounces)
* 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
* 4 cups hot cooked instant rice

Preparation
Combine the first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add pork; toss well. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray. Add pork; sauté 3 minutes. Remove pork from pan; keep warm.

Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; sauté for 30 seconds. Add tomatillos; sauté 1 minute. Add pork; cover and cook 10 minutes or until pork is done. Add tomatoes and cilantro; cover and cook for 1 minute. Serve with rice.


Comments
I didn't use the cooking spray at all, just the small amount of oil. I made some baked country style apple/brown sugar pork ribs last night, so instead of the tenderloin, I used most of the leftovers of those. (I usually crock pot them and there are no leftovers, but they weren't as good baked). It added a really nice sweet component, and they were better in this than they were by themselves.

I added extra ground red pepper because we love spice, but it probably didn't need it. (as in, almost too hot for me). I also used two large fresh cloves of garlic instead of the bottled.

I probably wouldn't have used quite so many tomatillos and tomatoes, OR I would've added more pork. The ratio wasn't quite right for me.

My daughter is sick and hubby is asleep, so I'm the only one who ate it. I enjoyed it overall, but would probably only give it 3 stars to keep at home.

ETA: I like a little sauce on my rice and it seemed sort of dry, so I added about 1 c of chicken broth when I added the pork back in. I probably could've used a bit less, but it made a nice spicy sauce when served over the rice.

Also, hubby didn't care for it at all. hahaha. niiiiiiiiiice.

orange coconut chicken

I didn't have any curry but wanted some sweet/hot coconut chicken and had some chicken legs in the freezer (from an awesome sale not too long ago). So I made this:



Orange Coconut Chicken

14 chicken drumsticks
2 Tbs olive oil
1/2 can coconut milk
1/2 of 18-ounce jar orange marmalade
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp ground ginger (maybe less, depending on your liking of ginger)
1/2 tsp onion powder
dash or two of cayenne
1/4 c coconut flakes

In nonstick skillet over medium high heat, heat olive oil, then place in drumsticks, skin side down, to brown. While browning, mix remaining ingredients in small bowl. Turn chicken over, pour sauce all over, cover, reduce heat to low or medium low. Cook for 1 hour. Remove cover, increase heat to medium, let cook an additional 15 minutes. Turn chicken and continue cooking until done and sauce is reduced.

Serve with rice and mixed oriental veggies.

*Perhaps the best compliments were:
Hubby -- "Very filling ... so good ... I guess I'm done." After only two drumsticks. If you know my husband, you know that's not normal. He just couldn't stuff any more in him. Of course, I'll put it in the fridge and he'll eat it when he gets home from work. lol

Kiddo -- "Mom, where did you get this recipe? It's so good!" "From my BRAIN!" "No, really. Where?" hahaha. Stinkin' kid.

Baby -- "nom nom nom ..."

Asian Chicken

I'm sure Chinese or Japanese purists may freak out over this, but it tasted good. Hubby used the leftovers to make sushi and took it to work for lunch, so that was awesome, too.

2 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
1/4 c hoisin sauce*
1/4 c teriyaki sauce*

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chicken and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add sauces and cook all the way through. Sauce will reduce after chicken is thoroughly cooked.

*I used Dynasty hoisin and Kikkoman teriyaki glaze, both purchased at Wal-Mart in the Asian section. I eyeballed these amounts, so it's not a perfect measurement.

Jambalaya

I will be looking for a from-scratch recipe for this next time, but for a box or two of Zatarain's, it wasn't bad. First, I took about 1-1/2 c of frozen, raw, peeled, and deveined (but still with a tail) shrimp out of the freezer a couple of hours before it was time to start dinner. They didn't quite thaw completely, but that was okay.

Then, I sliced the smoked sausage and cut each slice in half. Next, I diced and cooked 1 chicken breast in about 2 Tbs of olive oil. Then removed the chicken and, per the boxes' instructions, added water and brought to a boil. When it was time to put stuff in, I added the chicken and the sausage and the Zatarain's, then set the timer for 15 minutes. When the timer went off, I drained and added the shrimp (so it didn't overcook), and let cook the remainder of the time on the box.

It was still watery.

I took the lid off and let it cook for a bit longer, but it was still soupy, which it wasn't supposed to be. So annoying.

So I served it with a slotted spoon and ate all the shrimp. Except a few pieces I let hubby have. lol. Kiddo ate some chicken and sausage and the rice, hubby ate a lot of the food, and I rather enjoyed it. There's enough left for lunch tomorrow or the next day (depending on if I'm in the mood).

I am changing tomorrow's menu though. We're having salmon and spaghetti squash instead of the salsa chicken soup.

Orange Chicken

2 large chicken breasts, diced into bite-sized pieces
1 c flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 c milk (note: I used vanilla almond milk)
Vegetable oil (about 1/2 inch in your pan)
1-1/2 c orange juice
1/4 c honey (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp ginger
pinch of red pepper flakes

Heat veggie oil to medium to medium high heat. Mix flour, salt, and pepper in one bowl and pour milk in another. Dredge chicken in flour, dip in milk, then dredge again. Pan fry over medium to medium high heat 3-4 minutes on each side then set aside. After all the chicken is cooked, pour off all but 2 Tbs of oil, then add OJ and deglaze the pan. Add honey, ginger, and pepper flakes, then cook over medium heat until sauce is reduced by half. Pour sauce over chicken and serve over cooked rice and with stir-fry veggies on the side. Wooo!