You Want It? You Got It!

Archived from March 29th, 2011 from the old "Out of the Fryin' Pan and into the Fire"

After my recently successful dinner was created by the combined efforts of my awesome culinary skills and recipe resources, it was requested that I post the recipe.

Now, I'm no Maggie Moore or Tonia Pals with their Midwest to Southwest: Good Eatsblog that they have put together for the last year or so, but I do try to keep up with my own efforts.

Both recipes were found in April 2011's Cooking Light edition. I am usually not a fan of this magazine as I have not found really "light" recipes; however, I happened upon several good recipes I might take a whack at. I would recommend this month's edition for your own use.

So without further delay, I now present to you the dinner masterpieces of Sunday night, an odd combination, but still tasty, healthy, and worthwhile with time and effort. (Written in parentheses are my additional notes.)

Side Dish of the Month: Asparagus with Balsamic Tomatoes

1 pound asparagus, trimmed

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 1/2 cups halved grape tomatoes (I just bought a container of them...it worked)

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh garlic

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt (I use the sea salt)

3 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese (if you have to lay off the dairy, you could skip it, but goat cheese really adds that salty punch to the asparagus if you have never had this concoction before)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Cook asparagus in boiling water 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain. (I used the Pampered Chef steamer and steamed the asparagus in the microwave...just as efficient and gives you the same end product; nuke for 3-4 minutes.)

2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and garlic; cook 5 minutes. Stir in vinegar; cook for another 3 minutes. Add salt and stir. Arrange asparagus on a platter; top with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with goat cheese and pepper.

Yields 4 servings Each serving is approximately 69 calories with 3.9 grams of fat; fiber is 21 grams.

Chipotle Pork Tacos

1 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed

1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime rind

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (use one lime for both the juice and rind)

2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano (or dried from a bottle from the store shelf)

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons chopped chipotle chile in adobe sauce (found in a can-and if you want it hotter, add more chiles)

1/4 teaspoon salt (again, sea salt)

1 cup thinly sliced shallots (don't know what they are...very flavorful onion! Yum!)

2 teaspoons olive oil

8 (6 in.) corn tortillas (I bought the whole wheat, low-carb variety.)

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream (instead I bought the unflavored Greek yogurt, which AE now sells for dirt cheap!)

Chopped cilantro (it says optional, but it adds a nice little flavor to the taco itself)

1. Place pork tenderloin between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet (I used my rolling pin.) Remove plastic wrap. Cut pork into think strips (I cut into small, thin chunks.) Combine pork, lime rind and juice, oregano, brown sugar, chiles, garlic, and salt into bowl and set aside to marinate while cooking shallots.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and shallots to pan to saute for 4 minutes or until tender. Place shallots in a bowl and set aside. Now place pork in the empty pan that you just used for the shallots; saute for 3 minutes or until no longer pink. Add pork to shallots in large bowl.

3. Warm tortillas according to package directions. (I wrapped mine up in foil and set the wraps in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes. You could also grill them if you so desired.) Spoon 1/3 cup pork mixture onto each tortilla, and top each one with 1 1/2 teaspoons Greek yogurt and chopped cilantro. Fold in half.

Yield: 4 servings (2 tacos per serving) 299 calories, 9.3 grams fat, protein and carbs both around 27.4 grams