Call me Sandra Lee

No really, don't. Sandra Lee is the annoying bimbo on the food channel who accompanies every "semi-homemade" meal with a "table scape". I didn't do it intentionally, it just happened. When we sat down for dinner tonight I realized that the entire table matched, place mats, plates, flowers, lemons and limes. I was amused by how domestically darling I am, even on accident.

We had the other marinated pork loin leftover from camping. I boiled down the marinade and made a sauce, which was really good.
I made some veggie couscous and green beans. For dessert we had HEAVEN on a plate. No other title quite captures it. I had a slab of leftover Chocolate Ganache cake from 909. It's melted chocolate, heavy cream and vanilla beans cooked together, then molded into solid cake. It's ridiculous and can only be eaten in single square inch portions, unless you're Joseph. I served it with just a small scoop of vanilla Haagen Dazs and a big ladle of strawberry-orange coulis.
Strawberries boiling with half an orange with 8 cloves stuck in it


Here are recipes for the pork, veg cous cous and strawberry sauce, all of which could fall into my quick, economic, healthy & delicious category. I must clarify that I do not believe all the recipes I write down to be "healthy". I mean wholesome, always containing natural fresh ingredients, though not necessarily always low in calories or fat. As long as it's made with fresh ingredients and isn't fried, you're on the right track.

Honey Mustard Marinated Pork Tenderloin
In a ziploc bag combine with 2 or 3 pork tenderloins: (use the leftover for awesome cuban paninis or in a stir-fry)
1 cup dijon mustard (I used the last inch of 4 separate mustard bottles, any good quality mustard or combo of mustards will work)
2 T minced garlic
1/3 c honey
1/2 c water
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
drizzle olive oil
good squeeze hot chili "rooster" sauce
big pinch salt
Store in fridge overnight or at least 4 hours. Grill and baste with marinade half way through.

Veggie CousCous
I used pearled cous cous, which is larger than traditional cous cous. Either will work, if using regular small cous cous, follow this recipe until adding the pasta, after that follow package instructions.
In 2 T butter in a shallow pan saute 1 stalk celery sm. diced, 1/4 green pepper sm. diced, 3 green onions chopped, 1 carrot sm diced, 2 T garlic minced and 1/4 c pinenuts or slivered almonds for about 5 minutes. S & P. Deglaze with 1/4 c white wine, stir frequently until most liquid absorbed. Add 1 1/4 cup cous cous, stir to coat. Set temp to med-low. Have 2 cups hot vegetable stock nearby. Add stock slowly, stirring often as the pasta absorbs the liquid and swells. Add stock until all liquid is absorbed, the pasta is cooked through and the texture is creamy. I added 1/2 c milk at the end, which made it creamier. Stir in a handful of frozen peas, corn if you want and quartered cherry tomato. Season again and keep on low til tomatoes are wilted. If you wanna be naughty, throw in some butter.

Strawberry Orange Coulis
In small sauce pot combine 2 cups frozen strawberries (or any combo of berries. Fresh works great too, but frozen fruit is always available and affordable), 1/4 c grande marnier, cointreau or OJ for the preggos & kiddos, 2 T sugar, pinch cinnamon or one cinnamon stick, zest of one orange, juice of half an orange, juice of half a lemon and a clove-studded orange half and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and boil about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool in fridge. You could use it hot too, but I wanted it cold. Once cold, smash as much juice and pulp out of the orange that you can and then remove it. Blend with hand blender or in blender. SO FREAKING GOOD, could be used for cheesecake, chocolate cake, ice cream, layered in parfait with pastry cream, cake and berries, on angel food cake or anything you want to dip into or cover with strawberry lovely-ness.