Cook Smart; Eat Well

One delicious meal spurs on a second speedy dinner.

Pick a day when there's some breathing room to cook, and end up with two nights' worth of suppers. To start, we put together a Sunday menu and cooked two pork loin roasts. We served one, and then saved the other for a second night's 30-minute, one-dish meal.

-SHIRLEY HARRINGTON

Double-Duty Marinade

MAKES ABOUT 2½ CUPS

PREP: 10 MIN.

Be sure to whisk the marinade well and divide it quickly, so that the oil evenly distributes into each portion. You will use half the mixture to marinate the pork and the other half as a sauce for the Pork-andSoba Noodle Bowl. Discard any leftover marinade after marinating the meat.

1 cup lite soy sauce

6 Tbsp. fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)

½ cup olive oil

¼ cup water

¼ cup honey

2 garlic cloves, pressed

4 tsp. minced fresh ginger

½ tsp. crushed red pepper

1. Whisk together all ingredients.

Zesty Pork Loin With Apricot-Pan Sauce

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

PREP: 10 MIN., CHILL: 6 HRS., BAKE: 1 HR., STAND: 10 MIN.

2 (2-lb.) boneless pork loin roasts

1¼ cups Double-Duty Marinade

½ tsp. pepper

1/3 cup apricot preserves

1. Place pork roasts in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag, and add DoubleDuty Marinade, turning to coat. Seal and chill 6 hours or up to 24 hours.

2. Remove pork from marinade, discarding marinade. Sprinkle pork evenly with pepper. Place on a lightly greased rack in an aluminum foil-lined roasting pan.

3. Bake at 400° for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until meat thermometer inserted into thickest portion registers 155°. Remove pan from oven, and cover with foil; let stand 10 minutes or until thermometer registers 160°. Remove roasts from pan, reserving drippings in pan; cut one roast into slices. Cover sliced roast, and keep warm. Cover and chill remaining whole roast.

4. Combine ¼ cup pan drippings with 1/3 cup apricot preserves in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 1 minute or until melted, stirring once. Serve with sliced pork.

Potato-and-Carrot Amandine

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

PREP: 15 MIN., BAKE: 50 MIN.

Amandine, often misspelled as "almondine," is a French word meaning "to garnish with almonds." We also tested this recipe using presliced refrigerated potatoes, but they did not brown, so we recommend buying fresh whole potatoes.

8 small red potatoes, quartered (about 1¼lb.)

1 (16-oz.) package baby carrots

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

¼ cup slivered almonds, toasted

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

1 Tbsp. lemon juice (optional)

1. Place potatoes and carrots in a single layer on a 15- × 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Drizzle with 3 Tbsp. olive oil, tossing to coat; sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper.

2. Bake at 400° for 45 to 50 minutes or until vegetables are tender and lightly browned, stirring once. Transfer vegetables to a serving bowl; stir in almonds, parsley, and, if desired, lemon juice. Toss to coat.

Speedy Tuesday Supper

Use the second cooked pork roast and reserved marinade within 2 days to make Pork-and-Soba Noodle Bowl. You've got your protein, carbs, and veggies covered, so simply serve with orange slices and fortune cookies.

Pork-and-Soba Noodle Bowl

MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS

PREP: 15 MIN., COOK: 20 MIN.

Mollie Bell of Cedar Park, Texas, sent us her meatless version of this recipe. We added the pork to make it heartier.

12 oz. soba (buckwheat) noodles*

2 tsp. salt

1 (12-oz.) package fresh stir-fry vegetables

1 cooked Zesty Pork Loin, cut into strips

1¼ cups Double-Duty Marinade

1 Tbsp. sesame oil

Toppings: chopped peanuts, chopped fresh cilantro, thinly sliced red onion

1. Cook noodles with 2 tsp. salt in a large Dutch oven according to package directions. Stir vegetables into noodles during the last 3 minutes of cooking time; drain.

2. Cook pork strips, marinade, and sesame oil in Dutch oven over mediumhigh heat 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in noodle mixture, tossing to coat. Serve immediately with desired toppings. MOLLIE BELL CEDAR PARK, TEXAS

*1 (10-oz.) package Chinese noodles or 1 (13.75-oz.) package whole wheat thin spaghetti may be substituted. Note: For testing purposes only, we used Eat Smart Vegetable Stir-Fry.

Copyright Southern Progress Corporation May 2006
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