Cooking - Mexican Night

Cleaning out my fridge the other day, I found a still good Tupperware of a sauce. I thought it was a marsala paste I use for a lentil dish, so I immediately put it on the menu for that night.

But it wasn't the masala paste! Instead it was a chipotle-orange marinade. I didn't realize my mistake until halfway through cooking, so I ended up having to wing the lentil dish. (It was good, but not as delicious as the original.)

Then, since I had this leftover marinade, I needed to put it on the menu.

And a new

was born!

MEXICAN NIGHT

I marinaded approximately 1 pound of pork tenderloin in the 4 ounces marinade. Before grilling it on my grill pan. My supermarket still had corn, so I boiled that. Then as a second side, I figured I'd look in the rice aisle for a boxed Mexican or Spanish rice. What I found was Carolina rice and black beans.

What solidified it for me was a recipe on the back of the packet. They were instructing you how to make a southwestern soup with the rice and beans. The recipe called for lots of broth, vegetables, and salsa. Salsa! What if I made the rice as usual and added a little salsa for some southwestern flair?!?

My husband, "Oh, this is great!"

That's about as effusive as it gets my household.

Move over fajitas, Mexican Rice and Beans are a new favorite!