We’re eating seared pork tenderloin crusted in rosemary salt and served with roasted brussels sprouts, cauliflower and butternut squash seasoned with bacon, rosemary and garlic. The dish was finished with a drizzle of tangy whole mustard cream.

So yeah, yeah, yeah we’re still on a fall foods kick in our house and this meal was really good, not to mention very simple, and you should all try it! But let’s move on to what I really want to talk about. Who here remembers the McSalad Shakers from the 90’s? I know at least a handful of you have to be with me on this. Anyway, for those who don’t remember it was a salad that Mickey Dees served in a cup with a lid; the idea being that you put the dressing into the cup, put the lid back on then do a little hippy hippy shake and voila! evenly disbursed salad dressing. It is this McSalad Shaker technology that appears in the recipe below. The part where I tell you to put all the seasonings and veggies into a pot then shake the crap out of it. Anyway, I hope when you go to make this recipe you will use the McSalad Shaker technique and perhaps dance around your kitchen whilest seasoning your veggies!

Recipes in this post:

• Bacon, Rosemary & Garlic Roasted Veggies
• Seared Rosemary Pork Tenderloin
• Tangy Mustard Cream Sauce

Related posts:

1. Nothin’ Beats Manda’s Meats
2. Bacon Wrapped Fig & Blue Cheese Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
3. Brined Pork Roast w/ Curried Cranberry Apple Sauce

We’re eating a simple summer side-dish or crisp green beans and cremini mushrooms deglazed with balsamic vinegar.

Admission: I think I could eat an entire pound of green beans myself! Seriously, I freaking LOVE green beans and have been known to eat entire meals based around them. Doesn’t matter to me if they are crisp and hardly cooked or boiled to death with bacon and onions (country style), or if they are sitting in a lovely sauce or simply tossed with a little butter, salt & pepper. Those long stringy little pods of joy brighten my day. As it happens, this is one of the many great ways I enjoy eating green beans. I hope you guys enjoy them as well!

Recipes in this post:

• Balsamic Glazed Green Beans and Cremini Mushrooms

Related posts:

1. Citrusy Squash & Kumquat Salad
2. Butternut Squash Succotash w/ Sage Brown Butter
3. Shaved Sunchoke Salad

For an easy meal on a chilly winter night we decided a casserole was the way to go. Our casserole consisted of roasted brussels sprouts and broccoli, topped with creamy grits flavored with applewood smoked bacon, then layered with sauteed onions and mushrooms deglazed with sherry vinegar. Finally the dish was topped with shredded sun dried tomato & herb double gloucester cheese and baked until bubbly and melty.

T: I gotta say there is nothing wrong with grits, cheese, bacon, and roasted veggies melting together and piled up on a plate. Such a warming and delightful dish! Mmmm…
A: mmm hmm! i know some people aren’t the biggest casserole fans but what’s not to love… generally.
T: I don’t see how someone can be against casseroles. It’s too general a thing to be against… surely they just haven’t had the right casserole.
A: maybe all they’ve had is tuna casserole, which frankly scares me. brian… if you’re reading this, leave a comment and tell us why you are against casseroles! curious minds are dying to know.
T: I suspect some people have trouble with texture inconsistencies too.
A: that is such a weird thing to me! the thought of only eating food that is mono-textured is just… weird! i can’t think of another word for it.
T: I think it’s weird too, but I used to be that way! Up until I was a teenager I didn’t like to get a random crunchy thing in a meal that was otherwise soft. I guess I knew I didn’t like crunchies because I knew I didn’t like veggies.

Carrots & cheese. Lots of cheese.

A: for real!?! you didn’t like veggies until you were a teenager?!? that’s crazy! i loved most veggies growing up.
T: lots of people acquire that taste AFTER childhood. I always liked some veggies, just not most of them until I was a little older. Now I’ll eat pretty much anything.
A: thank god! so, this really was an extremely easy and tasty meal. tons of veggies and grits… .mmmmm and cheese…. mmmmmmmmm and bacon. you could always leave out the bacon if you’re a vegetarian or just don’t like it, but in our household there’s a bacon-fest club. and i’m the president!
T: And I’m the starving population. Alright, so I rate this meal a 4.49/5. Loved it. I really love that cheese that you used, and the onions and roasted veggies. It was… awesome. It would make a great meal for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Especially on a cold rainy day. You?
A: i gotta say you summed it up well. i give it a 4.44/5. it was t-riffic. the sun dried tomato & herb double gloucester is at the top of my cheese list right now. sooooo good. you could make a big thing of this for dinner and just have to heat it up for lunch or breakfast the next day. casseroles always seem to scream “comfort food” to me and this one was no different.
T: yeah, definitely comfort food. Perfect for the holidays or… whatever, whenever. This stuff is just plain good.
A: it’s a shame we didn’t make a big thing of it last night! we could be munching on some right now if we’d had the forethought.
T: yeah, forethought… we need to teach past Tyler and Amanda to hook up future Tyler and Amanda. If we plan it out right we can eat 24/7/365.
A: uh… yeah.. about that… don’t really want to eat 24/7/365… i think i would be sick of food!
T: yeah it’s a ridiculous idea… I’m just hungry.

No related posts.