Made-up Make-Me-Better Salad

So tonight I wasn't feeling my best - probably just overtired from my exciting weekend (which I will write about tomorrow), and a nasty sore throat making itself apparent. So I wanted a quick, easy, healthy dinner that would make me better! My mum always used to say that oranges would cure any sore throat, so I was determined to use oranges of some kind! I also had a couple of pork medallions and some feta left over from last night which I wanted to use. So I had a fumble in my fridge and decided on this...

Ingredients

Pork Medallions
Satsuma
Splash of Fresh Orange Juice
Generous Dash of Balsamic Vinegar
Pinch of Sugar
Mixed Lettuce Leaves
Red Onion
Cucumber
Feta Cheese

Recipe

Sear the pork for a few minutes on each side, then continue to cook it on a lower heat.

Add the satsuma segments, orange juice, balsamic and sugar to the pan when the pork is starting to look cooked.

Prep the salad. (I love red onion so had a good portion!) Crumble or chop the feta into small pieces.

When the pork is cooked through, add to the salad and pour the sauce over.

Verdict

This was exactly what I fancied tonight, and for a bit of a concoction, it was fairly good! The recipe definitely still needs some tweaking, so any suggestions would be most welcome! I added the sugar to try and avoid it being to tart, but it still had a bit of a twang (actually quite nice to spark some feeling into my numbing throat!) So it's an idea I'll revisit when I next need a Make-Me-Better Salad!

Cooking for a Friend

Hoisin and Garlic Pork Medallions with Feta and Coriander Stuffed Sweet Potato

My friend came for dinner last night and I created a bit of a concoction, borrowing from a couple of different recipes. Everyone had been chatting about pork at work, so that was my starting point - pork medallions from the Tesco Finest range (on offer obviously!) My sauce was actually inspired by the recipe on the back of the pork pack, and adapted to use ingredients I already had. The sweet potato recipe is a variation of one of my absolute favorites from Jamie's 30minute meals - he mashes sweet potato and normal potato with feta, chilli and coriander (and it's delicious!). My friend isn't keen on chilli so I ditched this part and decided to bake the sweet potatoes as a change. It all took me less than half an hour, and received great reviews from my friend!

Ingredients

Pork Medallions
Hoisin and Garlic Sauce (I used ready-made because I already had some, but would be nicer homemade!)
Dark Soy Sauce
Garlic (fine chopped)
Ginger (grated or fine chopped)
Spring Onions (rough chopped)
Sweet Potatoes
Feta Cheese
Coriander
Veggies (carrots and broccoli for me!)

Recipe

Put the sweet potatoes on a baking tray into a preheated oven (about 180degrees).  They need about 20-30mins depending on the size of the potato.

Sear the pork in a hot pan for a couple of minutes each side, then put to one side.

Get a pan of water boiling for your veg.

Mix the hoisin and garlic sauce with a few dashes of soy sauce in a bowl. Fry the garlic and ginger in a drop of olive oil until just turning golden, then add the sauce.





Put the pork into the pan with the sauce and keep the heat on fairly low to cook through for 5-10mins.

Put the veg in your boiling water, or better steam it if you've got the right utensils (which I don't unfortunately!)

Take the potatoes out of the oven and cut in half. Cut slices through the inside of the potato, not cutting through the skin.



 Chop the feta and coriander together to mix all the flavours.

Then use your knife to push the mixture into the gaps you've just cut into the sweet potatoes. Pop back in the oven for a few minutes.

Then voila! Dish up, sprinkle the spring onion on top of the meat...

Eat!