Brown Sugar Mustard Chicken

• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• Dash crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 boneless skinless chicken

1.  In a medium bowl, mix mustard, brown sugar, allspice and pepper flakes. Reserve about 1 Tbsp mixture for serving. Add chicken to remaining mixture; toss to coat.
2.  Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 in. from heat 6-8 minutes on each side or until a thermometer reads 170°. Serve with reserved mustard mixture.

Robyn's notes: this was so very simple and straightforward, and it was another recent recipe which I thought would be too mustardy but wasn't.  I broiled the chicken, instead of grilling, I leave grilling to my sweetheart because he's better at it than I am.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Molasses-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

• half of a 12oz pork tenderloin
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped prosciutto or bacon
• 1 1/2 C frozen lima beans or green beans
• 1/4 C chopped onion
• 1/3 C water
• 1 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 C orange juice
• 4 1/2 tsp molasses
• 1/2 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper

1.  Trim fat from meat.  Cut meat into 1/2 inch slices, set aside.  In a large skillet cook prosciutto over medium heat until crisp.  Drain, discarding drippings.  In the same skillet, add frozen lima beans and onion; cook in water according to bean package directions.  Drain bean mixture, set aside.
2.  In the same skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add meat to skillet.  Cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until meat is just barely pink in the center, turning once.
3.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together orange juice, molasses, cornstarch, salt, and pepper.  Add to the meat in skillet  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.  Stir the bean mixture into the orange juice mixture; heat through.
4.  Serve the sauce over the meat.

Robyn's notes: I can't eat lima beans or green beans (or onions, for that matter), so I just skipped that part.  This is good when you have already used half of a pork tenderloin and have the other half to use, check the "beef pork or lamb" label in the sidebar for pork tenderloin recipes. I used bacon, because I had it in the house for another recipe and it's better for the budget than prosciutto, as much as I like prosciutto.  I was surprised that the sauce didn't get thicker, I assumed that with both molasses and cornstarch it would set up fast, which it didn't.  But the end result was tasty.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often

Satay-Style Beef with Couscous

• 1/3 C chicken broth
• 1/4 C creamy peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1/8 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 Tbsp dry sherry (see note, below)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 6 oz beef flank steak or boneless beef top sirloin steak
• nonstick cooking spray

1.  In a small bowl, gradually whisk or stir the broth into peanut butter until smooth (mixture may stiffen at first, but will become thinner as more liquid is added).  Stir in soy sauce, ginger, and crushed red pepper, set aside.
2.  In a medium bowl, combine the sherry, garlic, and curry powder.  Trim fat from meat.  Cut meat into thin bite-size strips.  Add the meat to sherry mixture, toss to coat.
3.  Lightly coat a medium skillet with cooking spray.  Heat skillet over medium-high heat.  Stir-fry meat in hot skillet for 2 to 3 minutes or until meat is slightly pink in center.
4.  Add sauce.  Cook and stir about 1 minute more or until heated through.  Serve the meat mixture over couscous.

Robyn's notes: I don't keep sherry in the house, because everything I've ever read says not to use cooking sherry due to the sodium, and I won't use it up quickly enough to justify the expense of regular sherry.  So I used balsamic vinegar.  There are several ways to substitute for sherry in a recipe, depending on what else is in the recipe, in this case the balsamic worked out just fine.  This was tasty, though I found the meat a bit tough.

*** 3 Stars: Good. At least one of us liked this enough for me to make it again, but not often