Monday, October 6, 2008

Leftovers: Salad with pork and apples

Oh, boy... It's time to save money. I've been in denial, but with food prices the way they are, I can't be running to the store every time I get a hankering for something I want to cook.

So, with that in mind, I will attempt to use up what I have in the house, shopping only at our co-op on member day (when we get a 5% discount).

I have so much to use up this week, both in the fridge and in the pantry:

roasted, marinated pork loin

Farmers' Market tomatoes

celery (who doesn't have celery left over after using just a stalk or two?)

spaghetti squash

lettuce

cooked wild rice mixture

canned beans, black and garbanzo

spelt egg noodles that I got ages ago (they can't really get old, can they?)

frozen, ice cube-sized pesto chunks

I'm thinking of making spaghetti squash with marinara sauce and fresh fish with pesto -- maybe in the crock pot with garbanzo beans? -- as well as stuffed tomatoes, to use up some of that rice. I will have to go the store for the fish, and I still am planning to make my friend Kate's pumpkin soup, which I've decided will be a good dish to serve my in-laws on Saturday.

I used some of the pork and lettuce today: The pork loin I made a couple nights ago is delicious cold, so I put some small, thin slices on top of the greens. I didn't think it would be anything to blog about, but it turned out to be so much better than expected. I should have taken a photo.

I wanted to call this post "pork salad," but that just doesn't sound too good. Does "salad with pork and apples" sound any better? I hope so.

You can just arrange the following ingredients and top this with your favorite salad dressing. I drizzled on some extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and the flavors worked really well together.



Salad with pork and apples (for 1 large salad)

red-leaf lettuce, as much as you'd like

1/2 carrot, shredded

a few rings of thinly sliced red onion

about 2 ounces of pork loin, thinly sliced and cut into pieces about two inches long

1/4 sweet apple, whatever kind you like, cut into about 6 slices

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup garbanzo beans

optional: a sprinkle of toasted walnuts or pecans would go well in this, I think

1 comment:

Nicole said...

Another comment I'm copying and pasting from my mom!

"Hi Nikki, My pork filet dish with the above veggie (kohlrabi) and onions was a great peasant dish, nice for cool weather. I used a lot of paprika.

But my main reason for writing is the description of Kohlrabi:
'French = choux raves, they are not, properly speaking, roots, but a swelling of the stem above ground in form of a plump, pithy ball. Some varieties have quite a delicate flavour.' (This is a quotation from Larousse Gastronomique).

Anyway, I liked it and Dad ate it...!"