Easter Dinner

We arrived home from Scottsdale at 5:45 p.m. and I was determined to get a decent Easter dinner on the table.  I had pork sirlon steaks in the freezer so I defrosted them in hot water.  There was a half a bunch of asparagus and one sweet potato in the house.  I also had some spinach and arugula with some red onion in the fridge too.  From this, we had a tasty and nutritious dinner.  Here's the menu.

Pork with Cherry Sauce
3 pork sirlon or tenderloin steaks, about 1/3 inch thick
2 tbl. minced red onion (shallots would work too)
1/2 cup dried cherries
3/4 cup chicken broth

Season pork with salt and pepper.  Cook in frying pan coated with olive oil about 3 minutes per side over medium high heat (cooking time will vary depending on thickness; don't overcook or the pork will be dry).  Remove pork and tent on a plate.  Add about 1 tsp more of olive oil to pan and cook the onions.  When translucent, add dried cherries and chicken broth.  Reduce by about 1/3.  Serve pork with sauce on top.

Meanwhile, I had nuked the sweet potato for about 4 minutes on high and cleaned the asparagus.  When the sweet potato was done, slice into thick rounds.  Lightly coat another frying with extra virgin olive oil and brown the sweet potato rounds on one side and toss the asparagus onto the other side.  Season all with salt and pepper (I also minced some garlic and threw that on the asparagus side).

The salad was a quick mix of spinach and arugula, with thinly sliced red onion.  I dressed the salad with my best extra virgin olive oil, balasamic vinegar, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.  After plating the salad, I shaved (with a carrot peeler) some parmesan cheese on top.

As always, I plated my families dinner and served it with a flourish!  Buon Appetito!!!