Father's Day Dinner

Today is Father’s Day. Max bought his dad a hat, t-shirt, and exercise books. We were going to play 9 holes of golf in the afternoon, but it was close to 100 degrees so we cancelled. For dinner we are having Spiced Pork and Pineapple Kabobs, leftover potato salad and Cilantro-Lime Black Bean Salad. These recipes were both from the Washington Post. I posted the potato salad yesterday.


Pork Skewers, 12 skewers, 6 servings
If using wooden skewers soak for 30 minutes before grilling
Ingredients:
¼ C apple cider vinegar
¼ C EVOO
1 t chili powder
½ t ground cumin
½ t black pepper
½ t salt
Flesh of ¾ pineapple (about 3 #) cored and cut into 1” pieces (3C)
1 1/2# port tenderloin trimmed of silver skin and excess fat, cut into 1” chunks
Steps:
• Combine the first 7 ingredients in a small bowl. Place pineapple and pork in separate bowls and pour half the marinade over each. Toss and let sit for 15 minutes.
• Prepare the grille to medium high heat.
• Divide the pineapple and pork among the skewers to make sure you fill them all evenly. Discard the marinade.
• Place aluminum foil on the grille to shield the end of the skewers not covered with the meat or fruit from the heat. Cook 5-6 minutes on one side, turn and cook 4-5 minutes on the other. The meat should be about 155 degrees.
• Remove from the grille and cover with foil for 5 minutes before serving.

Bean Salad

Ingredients:
½ bunch cilantro, tough stems discarded, 1C packed
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 limes (2t zest and 2T juice)
2T white wine vinegar
3T EVOO
½ t salt
1t sugar
3 C cooked black beans (rinsed and drained, if using canned)
2-3 ribs celery cut into ¼” dice (1C)
3 large scallions, white and light-green parts, finely chopped (1/2C)
Steps:
• Combine the cilantro, zest, juice, vinegar, EVOO, salt and sugar in a blender; process to form a pureed dressing
• Combine the beans, celery and scallions in a large bowl; add the dressing and mix well.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 12 hours. The recipe says it is best refrigerated overnight.
This could be a complete dinner and in fact it was going to be, before I realized that it was father’s day.

The pork, pineapple and potato salad went well together. I will use the remaining bean salad for lunch tomorrow. It was off for this meal, but very good. It will definitely be good on its own. Jim ate all but 2 skewers, but he did share some pineapple with Max. I loved the pork and pineapple together. Jim chose a Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc because of the pineapple. I think I would have preferred a red with this dish.