Grilled pork tenderloin with easy al pastor glaze and mango salsa

This sounds fancy-pants, but it was an easy weeknight dinner that I kinda threw together.

It started with an extra mango and some cilantro in the fridge, left over from fish tacos a couple days ago. What to do with that? A spicy and/or salty pork dish would be a nice counterpoint, so I picked up a couple pork tenderloins.

Mid-afternoon, I trimmed the pork and put both pieces in a baking dish, and slathered one of them with this impromptu glaze:

- a good bit (maybe 1/2 cup?) of some bottled "Tacos Al Pastor" sauce I had on hand (Target's "Archer Farms" brand)

- a sprinkle or two of cayenne (if you're not a spice wimp like me, you might want more)

- a scant 1/2 teaspoon of ancho chili

- a drizzle of honey (a teaspoon or more, maybe. want it sweet? use more!) 

(I seasoned the second tenderloin with cumin and a couple other things, to be made into Cuban sandwiches tomorrow night.)

So the tenderloins sat in the fridge for a few hours, covered and marinating in their glaze/rub. Forty minutes before dinner time, I took them out and let them sit at room temp for 20 minutes, before grilling till the interior temp was just over 140 F; then a few-minute rest. You could also cook them in the oven; find directions for that here.

While the pork was cooking, I chopped up the mango and a small handful of cilantro. Tossed that together with the juice of one lime wedge. 

Sliced the pork and topped with the mango mixture. (Roasted cauliflower for the side dish.) Verdict? The hubby said, "If I ordered this at a restaurant, I'd be very happy with it." Wow! 

5-minute frozen yogurt -- no ice cream maker needed!

image and recipe from justataste.com

Made this tonight for a li'l somethin' sweet after dinner. It's SO easy, and pretty guilt-free! I used sweet cherries because they were half off at Fresh Market today. (The original used strawberries.) And so I changed some of the other ingredients, too.

Here is the original recipe.

Here is my variation (half recipe, compared to the original, because my food processor is 7 qts.):

Recipe: quick cherry-almond frozen yogurt

2 cups frozen sweet cherries (pitted)
1.5 Tablespoons honey (was a little weird; might try maple syrup instead)
1/4 cup plain Greek non-fat yogurt (If you use full-fat, leave out the cream.)
1 Tablespoon cream
1/8 teaspoon almond extract (amaretto or Disaronna would probably be lovely, too!)

UPDATED: I just made it a second time and much prefer this version...

2 cups frozen sweet cherries (pitted)
2 Tablespoons Disaronna or Amaretto
1/2 cup plain Greek non-fat yogurt (If you use full-fat, leave out the cream.)
2 Tablespoons cream
optional: additional sugar or sweetener, to taste

I put just the cherries in the processor first, and let them just get a little chopped up, till most pieces are halves or smaller. Then I added everything else and let it run. It clumped up on one side for a while, but eventually it all smoothed out. Taste and see if you want additional sweetness. I added less than half a packet of Splenda.

You might have to scrape the sides down once. But it only needed a minute or two to get smooth -- nowhere near the five minutes listed in the original recipe.

And this half recipe makes 4-5 servings, in my house. Your mileage may vary. Even if you double up, a serving of Version 1 is still under 100 calories, and less than 20 g of carbs! (The alcohol in Version 2 adds quite a few calories and carbs.)

Nutrition Facts Per Serving (version 1)
Calories 49
Total Fat 2 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Total Carbohydrate 9 g
Sugars 7 g

Protein 1 g
(Nutrition facts via myfitnesspal.com)

Spinach salad with strawberries

This is my second-favorite salad of all time, a close second to quinoa and spinach salad -- and no surprise there, since they contain many of the same ingredients.

I think a big part of what keeps this one at the top of my list over other green salads is that I only buy strawberries when they're in season. (My test for whether they're good and ripe? If there's a box of them at table height and I can smell them when standing over them, they're good!) And since here in Kansas, good strawberries are only available April through June, this salad is a rare treat.

(SO jealous of my niece who lives in California, and can get amazing ripened-in-the-field strawberries year-round!)

It's good with or without chicken, and all ingredients can be adjusted to your taste.

Recipe: Spinach salad with strawberries

For each individual salad:
2.5 oz. baby spinach (or thereabouts)
sliced fresh strawberries, to your taste (maybe 1/2 a cup?)
1 - 3 T. feta cheese, seasoned or plain
red onion, sliced thin; amount to taste
1.4 c. pecan halves (or to taste)
half of a seasoned, cooked chicken breast (about 3 oz.) - optional
balsamic vinaigrette or onion poppyseed dressing, to taste

Combine all ingredients; toss; enjoy!
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Nutrition info, according to myfitnesspal.com:
Calories: 444
Carbs: 17
Fat: 32
Protein: 24
Sodium:  780
Sugar: 9