Getting Porked...

I'm still sucking tonight's dinner out from between my teeth, but I had to tell you about it right away because it was so delicious that if I wasn't going to my biggest client's holiday luncheon tomorrow, I would get up extra early just so I could prepare it again and then look at it in rapturous anticipation all morning.

I should have taken a photograph. I would have had I not been overcome by the kind of food lust that, for me, only happens on the day after Thanksgiving or any time I'm at Sotto Varalli in Philadelphia (don't even get me started on their $45 tasting menu that leaves you stuffed tighter than Donald Trump's wallet).

I half-heartedly tried to get Steve to join me for forehead-slappingly-good burgers at 5-Guys earlier since we were Christmas shopping and it was right in the same strip mall. Thankfully, he declined, citing a list of leftovers clamoring for release from our refrigerator.

For anyone who's never been to a 5-Guys, I have only one piece of advice -- if you have the opportunity to eat there, run screaming to your nearest house of worship, bomb shelter, or anticipatory 12-step meeting. You will never be the same again. We stumbled upon one of these fine dining establishments last October in Alexandria, Virginia where we were staying for my friend Fin's wedding (and, coincidentally, celebrating my 40th birthday), and we single-handedly consumed such a large volume of beef and Idaho potatoes that they purposely chose our geographical whereabouts in which to expand their operations.

Since Steve took the high road and talked me down from my "I deserve a burger - I go to Boot Camp" tree, I whet his whistle with a promise of one very fine salad upon our return home.

Last night I prepared a roasted pork tenderloin, smothered in a 1/2 jar of La Choy Teriyaki glaze/marinade alongside sliced sweet potatoes (or yams), baked in honey and cinnamon. We also had broccoli broiled with some fresh lemon and grated Parmesan. Everything was wonderful -- and we had a ton of pork left over, as well as 4 slices of sweet potato (which I saved along with the thick, syrupy honey/cinnamon glaze).

Tonight's "Runner Up To 5-Guys Burgers" Salad consisted of:

Mesclun Mix (not to be confused with a Mescalin mix)
Cucumber - diced
Celery - chopped
Baby Portabella mushrooms (only on Steve's salad -- not because I don't like them, but because they were 4-days old, and that exceeds my 3-day fresh rule and he doesn't care)
Chopped raw broccoli florets
Chopped leftover sweet potatoes
Cubed leftover pork tenderloin
Shaved cheese (Swiss for him, Romano for me)
Chopped Clementine oranges (peel 2, slice through the segments to create small pieces -- one clementine per salad)
Grape tomatoes, cut in 1/2 (though I forgot those -- but would have liked them in retrospect)
You can use Onion if you like -- but we plan to smooch a little later...

And now the really important part... The dressing!!!

-- The juice of 2 clementine oranges
-- All of the scrapings of the leftover honey/cinnamon mixture at the bottom of the potato bowl (substitute 2 T honey and 1/2 tsp cinnamon if you didn't make sweet potatoes the night before)
-- 3-4 T of the Teriyaki sauce that you saved with the tenderloin (assuming you made a pork tenderloin in Teriyaki like I did -- if not, substitute 2T of regular Teriyaki sauce)
-- 1 T olive oil (I probably would have mistakenly used more, but that was all that was left in the bottle tonight)
-- 2 T Pear-Infused White Balsamic Vinegar. OK, so you probably don't have that. If not, substitute 1 T regular Balsamic or White wine vinegar or whatever kind of vinegar you have in the cabinet.

Whisk all dressing ingredients together.

After you've assembled the salad -- lettuce on bottom, then layer all the rest of the ingredients -- sprinkle with some sea salt and fresh ground pepper, then dress with 1/2 the dressing for each of 2 bowls of salad. It's OK to over-dress this one -- it's mostly sweet citrus, not a thick buttermilk ranch. So, go for it! Soak it!

We had a few pretzel crisps and some diet coke on the side. It was delightful and now I'm stuffed. Bring it on, Boot Camp! Time for bed... I have to be up at 4:45!!!