Asian Pork on Coconut Rice with Green Beans

Asian Pork on Coconut Rice
Serves: 6

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sweet chili sauce ( Maggi Taste of Asia, mild)
• 1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons peeled, finally chopped fresh ginger
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 pork tenderloin
• Salt & Pepper, to taste
• sesame seeds and scallions, for garnish

Combine first five ingredients to make sauce. Divide sauce in two small bowls and set aside. Salt & pepper tenderloins and grill. 10 minutes before taking the pork off the grill, baste repeatedly the pork with half of the sauce. When the pork is done, remove from grill and let rest for a couple of minutes. Slice and serve with coconut rice and Asian green beans.

Coconut Rice:

• 1 can coconut milk
• jasmine rice

Prepare rice according to package diractions, substituting coconut milk for equilvalent amount of water. Add a dash of salt and one teaspoon of sugar if milk is unsweetened. Cook until liquid is absorbed. Set aside.

Note: The second time I made this I needed to have enough rice for eight servings, so I used one can of coconut milk and supplemented the milk with some Thai Coconut Curry broth I bought on impulse at the grocery store. It was amazing!

Asian Green Beans

Ingredients:

• 1 pound fresh green beans, ends removed and cut in half
• olive oil
• sesame oil
• soy sauce
• sugar
• sesame seeds (I use black sesame seeds)
  
• pinch of red pepper flakes, optional
  

Directions:

1. Blanche green beans, drain and set aside.
2. Heat a little olive oil and sesame oil in a saute' pan. Add a little splash of soy sauce and a tiny bit of sugar.
3. Add blanched green beans and red pepper flakes to the pan and toss, cooking until heated.
4. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.


This meal is one of my new favorites. It's quick and easy, and is pretty forgiving. The only downside? I only had my cell phone camera available to take a picture, and the quality isn't great. Oh well, I never claimed to be a photographer!

Photo credit, Me. Sorry for the poor quality.

Kalki's Baked Beans

Kalki's Baked Beans

Ingredients:

• 6 cups prepared baked beans, any brand
• 6 slices bacon, chopped, 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, a couple of handfuls
• 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper

• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley leaves, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.Pour beans into casserole dish and place in oven.

In a small nonstick skillet, cook bacon over medium high heat 2 to 3 minutes. Add onions and cook 3 minutes longer. Slide the beans out of the oven. Scatter the onions and bacon around the beans. Sprinkle the brown sugar and black pepper over the onions.

Bake beans with toppings 10 minutes longer. Garnish the beans with parsley and serve.

Now, my modifications…

I used about 1/3 of a sweet onion, sauteeing that right up with the bacon. I sprinkled the brown sugar on, having no idea how much I used, and I also mixed in a touch of cinnamon. If I were making this for a crowd, I would use a lot more bacon, and more onion. It doesn’t seem like there would be enough of that mixture to cover a larger dish of beans. But, these are wonderful, and are now at the top of my list to make as baked beans!

Source: Rachael Ray, J. Maron

Sweet Carrots

Sweet Carrots

November 30, 2006 at 7:52 pm | In carrots, side dishes, vegetables | Leave a Comment | Edit this post

The perfect vegetable—baby carrots lightly sweetened and tossed with Mural of Flavor. We had these for dinner this evening and they were wonderful. These carrots, and Mural of Flavor, will become a regular rotation in our home!

2 lbs. baby carrots, rinsed

2 quarts water

1/2 tsp. salt

2 TB. butter

1 tsp. MURAL of FLAVOR

1 TB brown sugar

Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil over high heat, add salt and carrots. Let water return to a boil, then cook carrots 5 minutes. While carrots are cooking, melt butter in a large nonstick skillet. Add the brown sugar. Drain and rinse carrots, add to skillet, top with MURAL of FLAVOR and cook over low heat 2 minutes, stirring to blend. Remove from heat and serve. If the vegetables are done a bit before the rest of dinner, cover the pan and leave on the lowest heat setting for up to 10 minutes, stirring after 5.

Serves: 6-8
Prep. time: 1 minute
Cooking time: 8 minutes

Source: Penzey’s Spices