Sharing Plate – Your Cooking Coach |

I love idea of making a nice dinner with a meat and two sides- but it is very difficult to do so in the middle of the week.  So, I get some help from the super market- I usually get the Pork Loin or a rack of Lamb from Traders Joes. For this dinner, I had the Pork Loin and decided to make sauteed mushrooms and roasted potatoes. I wanted to utilize the dill I had in my fridge and saw a recipe with dill and buttermilk with the roasted potatoes- I also had a packet of fingerling potatoes (if you haven’t tried fingerling potatoes as yet, you really need to – they have a wonderful creamy and nutty flavor). It looked delicious and easy to make- so I put my own spin on it and cooked it- it was in fact delicious.  I am thinking of using the dill sauce for other dishes as well- it was creamy but light, earthy yet extremely flavorful.  The sauteed mushrooms are my favorite side dish to make.  I love mushrooms and so do my daughter and husband. I made life easy and bought pre-sliced mushrooms from the super market- yes I cheated!! I love using thyme with mushrooms- both earthy flavors go really well together.  Now, I usually drink a red wine with pork, but somehow I felt like having a white wine- so that’s what we did. It is great to pair the right wine with your meal but at the end of the day- it’s about what you want to drink!

Roasted Pork Loin

• 1 marinated pork loin- store bought and roasted according to directions

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Sour Cream Herb Sauce

• 1 pound fingerling potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

Preheat oven at 350.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place the potatoes. Add the olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper; mix well. Cover the potatoes with another sheet of aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Take the cover off and bake for another 15 minutes. Take out and mix the minced garlic. Cook for another 6-7 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn.

Sour Cream and Herb Sauce

• 1/2 cup low fat sour cream
• ¼ cup milk
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
• Zest of one lemon
• Juice of half a lemon
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients in a medium bowl and keep aside. Right before serving, mix the potatoes with the sauce.

Sauteed Mushrooms with Fresh Thyme

• 4 cups sliced Cremini mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a wide non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and cook on high heat till they are nicely wilted and cooked down, for about 10 minutes. Add the thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook for another 10 minutes, check for seasonings.

A friend came over for dinner a few nights ago. I had a day notice and it was through the week- I wanted to make an easy entree and something I can assemble ahead of time. I decided to make a baked pasta with red peppers and zucchini (recipe to follow) and garlic bread. What about dessert??? I had plenty of ice cream in the freezer and of course lots and lots of mangoes! In the fridge, I also had a pint of strawberries looking a little sorry and not so fresh. I decided to cook the strawberries down and add chunks of mangoes in the sauce. First of all, the topping color made me happy- such bright red and yellow- my favorite colors, they are all over my house! I served vanilla ice cream with a big dollop of the topping. It was delicious! Great to have over a pound cake or even angel food cake. It’s actually great just by itself with a little whipped cream on top! It would be great to have in the fridge in the summer months with abundant berries and mangoes. I am sure raspberries would taste delicious with mangoes as well.

• 1 pint fresh strawberries- washed and cut
• ½ cup fresh mango and pineapple juice (orange juice will do)
• 2 teaspoons turbinado sugar (use according to how sweet the strawberries are)
• 2 ripe mangoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

In a medium pan, add the strawberries and the juice. Bring to a boil and lower the heat and simmer the fruit for 30 to 40 minutes. Add sugar as needed. The strawberries will cook down and have jam like consistency. Take the off the heat and add the mangoes. Chill the fruit mixture and serve on top of ice cream.

Couscous is a key ingredient in my pantry. I always have it handy for a last minute side dish. I buy the whole wheat version from Trader Joes- it is a lot healthier and tastes the same as the regular one. I always cook couscous with chicken broth- it gives the dish a lot more depth of flavor than using salted water. Couscous is very versatile- it goes with all sorts of cuisines. I have served it with Italian meatballs, Indian chicken, fish or lentils- sky is the limit.  To start the dish, I always add an aromatic- like an onion or garlic; herbs like thyme, rosemary or oregano; vegetables like corn, spinach or peas.  I sometimes like to add raisins or dried apricots and nuts like pine nuts or almonds. In this case I kept it simple- I had a vidalia onion and thought roasted corn will go really well with the jerk chicken I was making. The cinnamon in the couscous compliments the chicken really well also.  I finished the dish off with fresh cilantro. The left overs are delicious on top of a green salad and a protein.

1 medium Vidalia onion, chopped
2 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup whole wheat couscous
½ cup frozen roasted corn
¼ cup cilantro, chopped

In a medium bowl, heat the olive oil and add the onion. Saute on medium heat for 4-5 minutes, till the onions are soft. Add the corn, cinnamon, salt and the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, add the couscous and place the lid and turn the heat off. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Take the lid off, fluff the cooked couscous with a fork and add the cilantro.

We ordered pizza and pasta for dinner on the weekend. We had enough of the food left over to have it again the next day- so I told my husband I will make a big salad with the left over pizza. The next day, before going grocery shopping, I checked the fridge to make sure I have greens for the salad- I had a bag of arugula. I had strawberries in the house and decided to buy some glazed sweet walnuts for the salad. I came home and put the balsamic vinaigrette together and put it aside. When it was time to make the salad, I got the arugula out of the fridge and discovered it was all wilted and brown!! It was 6:30 in the evening, raining outside and a school night- I wasn’t going to the grocery store now… I decided to go without the salad but felt bad for my husband- what should I give him? I decided to get creative and look in my kitchen for inspiration. I had tomatoes on the counter, apples and dill in the fridge. I called my husband and asked if he was ready to be a guinea pig in my salad experiment! I cut up the tomatoes with the apples and added chopped dill. I then topped it with the balsamic vinaigrette. It all smelled really good and what do you know- the salad tasted really well too. Perfect I thought, this salad is going to be great in the summer with any grilled meat or even hamburgers. I think next time I may even add some feta cheese to the salad and have it for lunch! Not having the greens worked out in the end- great dishes are created when I get desperate!!!

• 2 vine ripe tomatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 pink lady apples, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
• Balsamic vinaigrette to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the tomatoes, apples, dill and the vinaigrette.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

• ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Mix the mustard, honey, balsamic vinegar with the salt and pepper. Drizzle the oil in while whisking the mixture. Keep aside.

My daughter loves mangoes like a normal kid likes candy.  A few weeks ago I noticed the yellow altaulfo mangoes that we love so much at Whole Foods.  I bought four of them since they were a little pricey but I had to get them for my daughter.  She was ecstatic to see them in the kitchen and wanted one right away.  The four mangoes were gone in two days!  I found more in Costco-they were selling a pack of 6 and were slightly cheaper as well- so I bought those also!  I happen to visit an Indian grocery store in Edison, and what do you know- they had a whole case- well I bought it as well.  You can imagine how many mangoes we had in the house now!  My daughter was eating two a day but I still had to come up with ideas to consume them- so when I made the Jerk chicken, I decided to make a mango relish to go with it.  I had also bought a bottle of fresh mango pineapple juice at Whole Foods- it is the most glorious juice you will ever have.  I am not a big juice person- but this is fabulous!  I decided to use it in the relish but orange juice can be substituted.  The relish can be used with fish, pork or with nacho chips! We ate it with the chicken and it was fabulous!  My daughter realized we were now running low on the mangoes- so guess what I did- yup, I bought another case!  I just made a strawberry mango topping for ice creams and cakes- recipe to come soon!

• 3 ripe mangoes, peeled and diced
• 1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
• ½ cup cilantro, chopped
• 2 lemons, juiced
• ¼ cup fresh mango and pineapple juice (orange juice will do as well)
• 1 teaspoon honey
• Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and let sit 30 minutes at room temperature.