Project Pantry... an update

Monday we had delicious butterfly grilled brats with sauted red bell peppers, onions and garlic with saffron yellow rice.  Unfortunately it didn't really last long enough to take a picture but here's the menu:

mmmmm brats!

I started off with one red bell pepper and one yellow onion I had hanging out in the fridge.  Earlier in the day I had pulled out some Johnsonville Beer Brats and they were defrosted and ready to grill.  I grabbed some Mahatma Yellow Rice out of the pantry and got the water started.  While that was happening  I cut the bell pepper and onion in to bite sized squares and coarsely chopped up some fresh garlic.  Then I butterflied the brats.

I sauted the veggies until they were soft but not mushy.  The brats took about 7 minutes total grilling both sides.  Once everything was done I spooned some rice on the plate, layed out a brat and covered it with the peppers and onions.  It was delicious!

Sizzle, Fo Shizzle!!

Tuesday I had originally planned to make chicken enchiladas.  Well you know what they say about the best laid plans...exactly.  So we ended up with chicken taco's instead.  Which worked out well because I had a bunch of taco shells to use up.  So, I defrosted some chicken breast and then marinated it in kosher salt, coarse ground pepper, olive oil and freshly chopped cilantro.  I then made a corn salsa with finely chopped onion and coarsley chopped cilantro.  A dab of olive oil and a couple pinches of salt, stir and set.  I grilled the chicken and then cut in on a diagonal across the grain. 

Into each taco shell went 2-3 slices of chicken, a small dallop of low fat sour cream, the corn salsa and some monterey jack shredded cheese.  Everything was okay.  I think the chicken may have been freezer burnt because despite my  marinate and my superior chicken grilling skillz, the chicken tasted dry and a little chewy.  Not a total FAIL but not a home run either.  I am ashamed.

Wednesday I redeemed myself.  We pulled a pork loin out Tuesday night and by Wednesday afternoon it was ready to receive it's marinade.  I marinated the pork around 3pm.  This gave it at least 2 hours prior to grilling to bask in the glory of the marinade.  I got the recipe out of Everyday Food magazine.  Here's the recipe:



•4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil


•1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar


•1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder or other single chile powder


•1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon


•1/2 teaspoon ground cumin


•1 boneless pork loin (approx 3 pounds)
 •Coarse salt and ground pepper


Now, no offense to Ms. Stewart, however I added a couple dashes of low sodium soy sauce and a dash of dry white wine.  It's worth it.  Trust me.

To go with my sexy pork loin I pulled out some sweet potato and yellow onion.  I cut the sweet potato up into about 1 inch 'fries' about a 1/4" thick and cut the onion into crescents.  I placed the sweet potatoes in a bag, drizzled about a tbl spn of olive oil on them, then sprinkled them with salt, fresh pepper, cumin and chili powder.  For the onions I drizzled them with olive oil, salt and pepper. 

Pork so good, you'll wanna slap yo mama!

I also had a box of butternut squash risotto squatting in my pantry so I pulled that out got that prepped.  Depending on the size, a pork loin can take 20-30 minutes to grill properly.  So I put the veggies in the oven on 400 at the same time Tony started grilling the pork.  Then a few minutes later I started the risotto. 25 minutes later the pork was almost done and the risotto was just finishing.  I turned the oven on to broil and set the veggies under the broiler. 

The finished product was a 5 star meal at my house.  Even Anna (my picky eater) asked for more pork.  It was a fine night at the Lego house.  And this time, I managed to snap a picture before the feasting began!

We have 4 more days to go, and so far, Project Pantry is a hit!

P.S. Don't forget to leave a comment on each post to win a free years subscription to Everyday Food Magazine.