Get someone else to cook it!

I have found the easiest and quickest way to cook dinner is to get someone else to cook it! ;)

In our house that means buying a piece of pork, beef or chicken for my husband to grill. He is very content in his grilling area (think outdoor man cave), and he has become very good at all kinds of marinating and grilling. We even call him the "Grill Master" (flattery will get you everywhere).

The Pork Loin

- He trims off any excess fat, puts the loins in a quart size baggie and pours in the marinade and lets it marinate in the fridge for a minimum of an hour to overnight (which he says is ideal).

Sometimes he will make something from scratch, but tonight he is using Mojo by Bahia brand - one of his favorites. Choose whatever marinade you like.

-He sears the pork on both sides on high heat, then moves the pork to the side for indirect cooking on medium to low heat and cooks for an hour. This makes the pork loin very tender and juicy.

-serve on a cutting board, slice thinly on a slight diagonal for the most tender pork.

 (check out his new bamboo cutting board he got for Christmas from his lovely wife)

Black Bean  & Corn Salad

I decided I would make a cold black bean salad to go with the pork. Inspired by the Mojo marinate, I am going with Cuban flavors.

I gathered my ingredients:
- 1 can of black beans
- 1 can of corn
- 1/2 red pepper
- 1/2 green pepper
- 1 avocado
- 1 tomato
- 1 lime
- olive oil
- balsamic vinegar
- cilantro

Open the black beans and corn, empty into a colendar and rinse

Chop up 1/2 each of the red and green peppers, the whole avocado and tomato.

Squeeze the juice from one lime.

Take the leaves off of approximately 30 sprigs of cilantro and chop.

Put everything into a bowl.

I like clear glass because the mix of colors in this salad are so nice.

For the dressing: use 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/8 cup of balsamic vinegar, 

1 tablespoon of honey (or any sweetener, you like - it cuts the tartness of the vinegar), 

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Slowly add more vinegar to taste if you think it needs more, but be careful balsamic vinegar can get overwhelming quickly.

 If that happens just add more oil and honey.

Pour  dressing into bowl and toss. Let sit for about 15 minutes to 1/2 hour to let the flavors blend.

The meal got 3 thumbs up. The kids thought the bean salad tasted like a salsa and were craving tortilla chips to dip into it... great idea for next time!

Sharing the meal planning and cooking duties keeps any one person from feeling overwhelmed by the process and makes cooking more enjoyable. With busy schedules, it doesn't always work out — weekends seem the best time for us. I have yet to get the kids involved as much as I would like. They always act like they are too busy with homework when the topic comes up! We have a policy that whoever cooks doesn't have to clean up.... you would think that would be enough motivation to help cook! Right?