Election Day Egg and Bacon Supper

You don't want to cook much tonight, but you want something to get you through until the wee hours of the morning.  TODAY SHOW'S  Savannah Guthrie says NBC news will be on until at least 3a.m.  So get your strength on with this quick breakfast for dinner.  Yes, there are some fried components (potatoes and bacon), but the eggs are poached and sit on gorgeous cheddar-smothered tomato slices with whole wheat English muffins.  Go ahead, tank up.

California BLT Salad

 
Shopping for one is fun at Chico's or Talbot's.  Even if you don't buy anything.
Shopping for one is not always quite so much fun at Kowalski's or Cub Foods. 

While I am not a great fan of boneless chicken breasts, they do hold a special place in my heart when I'm shopping and cooking just for me. As do salads of any ilk.  For this California BLT salad,  The Solo Cook can run into the store, buy a couple of boneless breasts, a ripe avocado (hopefully), a few Kalamata olives at the olive bar, and just about skip on home to make this salad.  Granted, you must have a few staples on hand waiting in your kitchen, and those would include tiny tomatoes, red onion,  bacon, a bit of gratable cheese, and salad greens.  Keep some bacon in the freezer frozen into 1-2 piece packages.  And, for greens:   a big container of spinach lasts a long while, makes a great salad, and is perfect for omelets, vegetables sides, and sandwich greens.

Pork Tenderloin with Lentils and Vegetables

Festive fall food for the Solo Cook.  You probably don't want to cook a big pork loin and roasted vegetables (unless all the gang is coming,) but you might want to fix a smaller pork tenderloin and an all-in-one side brimming with legumes and sauteed vegetables that you can also take for lunches.  Sometimes in the summer I make a lentil salad and, while I was thinking about that salad, I came up with a colder weather version that's warm and inviting--despite the fact that there's still a bit of lemon juice squeezed in at the end.  Summer isn't that far away.

One of the beauties of this meal is that, if you want to, you can come home and fix it.  Pork tenderloin is a very fast meat to cook.  Seared on top of the stove and then roasted for a bit more, it's done in perhaps 20 minutes.  If that doesn't appeal, you can simply roast it for about 45 minutes at 350.  With the bacon wrap, I like the sear as it crisps the bacon right to the pork. 

To get this lovely meal out together, cook the lentils first and then begin browning the meat as you chop and saute the vegetables.  If one is done before the other, you've no worries.  The lentil-vegetable side will hold and reheat (and is good warm or cold with it's ending crunch of fresh carrots, etc.) and the meat has to rest anyway after roasting.  However you do it, you'll be happy.  I think so.  Did I mention leftover  the meat makes incredible tacos,  salads, omelet fillings, or sandwiches?  Or that this makes a tasty, easy Thanksgiving dinner for 2 or 3?  Let one friend bring pie and the other bring wine; you're set for the holiday.

Pork Tenderloin with Lentils and Vegetables 2-3 servings (plus lentil dish for lunches)

Vegetables:

1/2 pound lentils (any color), cooked and drained according to package directions --takes about 1/2 hour* 
3T olive oil, divided (1 to cook veg and 2 to drizzle on at end)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup each:  chopped eggplant, yellow squash, and zucchini (or green beans)
4 oz sliced mushrooms (1/2 a regular container)
1/4 cup   finely chopped red or green bell pepper
1/4 t each kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (plus extra to taste)
Generous pinch of crushed red pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup basil julienne (thinly sliced)
1/4 cup finely chopped yellow pepper
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped carrots
3 sliced green onions (white and green parts)

Juice of one lemon

1. While lentils drain, heat a large, deep skillet over medium heat and add olive oil.  Saute onion, eggplant, squash, zucchini or green beans, mushrooms, and red or green pepper until softened--about 10 minutes.  Dust with salt and pepper and crushed red pepper.
2. Turn off heat and add parsley, basil, yellow pepper, tomatoes, carrots, and green onions.  Stir in lentils and don't cook any longer.  ( A bit of a reheat is ok--see below.)
3. Squeeze lemon juice over all and stir.
4. Drizzle on other 2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Stir.
5. Taste and adjust seasonings.
6. Cover to keep warm until pork is finished .  You can reheat gently if you like.

Cooking the Pork: **

1 pork tenderloin
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1-2 slices best-quality bacon (I like Nueske's)
Toothpicks


Salt and pepper well the pork tenderloin and wrap it with the bacon pieces, securing ends with toothpicks.

  Meanwhile, heat a large, oven-proof skillet or heavy roasting pan over medium-high heat; add olive oil.  Place bacon-wrapped pork in the center of the pan. When the meat is very-well browned, turn and let brown on the other side. When that side is looking crispy, move the pan to the oven to finish cooking.  It may take another 15 minutes or so.  Using an instant-read thermometer, remove the skillet from the oven when the meat registers 150F.   I like it a bit rare and juicy; it will continue cooking.  Cover with aluminum foil for about 10 minutes before carving and serving.  Slice meat in 1/2"  pieces.  Place cut meat at the center of a large platter and surround with lentils and vegetables.


*Can cook lentils in the morning or night before.  Drain and refrigerate, tightly wrapped.  Spoon into the skillet with the cooked vegetables to warm through right before serving.

**These are directions I used for another blogpost in which the pork cooks just like this, but you also cook sliced fennel, onions, and apples right in the pan with the pork and then roast it all together in the oven.  That's nice, too--and mostly fallish!

Wine:  A Pinot Noir from Oregon.  Your choice, though I'm partial to Ken Wright pinots with meals like this.  Thanks, Ken.


Have fun cooking and taking care of yourself,
Alyce

Pasta out of the Frig and Pantry

Boil the pasta, chop and cook whatever veg.  Dinner for one is served.

 As a young cook, I would marvel at my mother's ability to walk into a kitchen and come out with something good to eat.   While this doesn't sound like such a feat (there are many accomplished cooks in the world), she managed it when there didn't appear to be any food (that I could see) in there.  Well, of course there were milk, eggs and cheese in the frig.   In fact, there were often fresh eggs from her hens. There were root vegetables on the counter.  The deep freeze held fish she and my dad had caught and cartons of last summer's vegetables.  In the closet were shelves brimming with quart jars of canned tomatoes,  4oz jars of crab apple jelly, various sized containers of figs, as well as odds and ends -- batches of canning she'd done when someone had brought her half a bushel of something or other about to go bad.

Mom and nephew Michael

Last year, I read and reviewed a book called Lunch in Paris; A Love Story with Recipes  by Elizabeth Bard (the paperback version has come out recently), which is a memoir about an American  woman who falls in love with (eventually marries) a Frenchman named Gwendal.  Full of sweet, not-too-long-ago stories, each vignette ends with a recipe. One I  particularly liked:  Gwendal (who cooked for just himself often) was notorious for rummaging in the frig and coming up with a tasty pasta dish. All this when it looked like there was simply nothing to eat and a run for take-out must be attempted no matter the weather or time.

I tried my hand at Gwendal's pasta (blogged it once) and continue to do so because it quickly morphs into my pasta and will soon be yours.  See what you think. You, too, can learn to look around, grab a few things, and cook your dinner out of what you have.  Just like my mom or Gwendal.  Julia Child would say, "Have the courage of your convictions..."  and go for it.