Day 191: Fennel Killer

I adore fennel - cooked, in salads - doesn't matter.  I always love it.  Tonight I cooked it myself for the first time and I nearly totally killed it - not in good, stand-up routine kind of a way.

I used an Epicurious.com recipe as a starting point but made a couple of changes.  I reduced the oil content dramatically, using only about 2 T to coat the fennel and shallots prior to roasting.  I also left out the haricot verts and added frozen peas instead.  I defrosted them and added them to the baking pan in the last 5 minutes of cooking.  Their sweetness was a perfect compliment to the fennel - but I missed the part of the recipe where it said to mix the veggies every 10 minutes.  I let them cook for a good 20 minutes before I even checked on them and so parts of the fennel were charred, as were most of the shallots.  I picked off the burnt bits and what was left was delicious. 

Our main course was also from Epicurious.com - grilled chipotle stuffed pork tenderloin.  It was fabulous.  The recipe had recommended eating the pork with store bought guacamole, but of course I made it from scratch.

Guacamole:

1 avocado

Juice of 1/2 a lime (or more if required)

1 headping tsp of lowfat sour cream

Normally, I would include a healthy dose of hot sauce as well - but since this was to be eaten with pork that had been liberally rubbed with chipotle peppers, but skipped this step tonight.

I want to give my husband credit for pairing tonight's dinner with the perfect wine:  Heitz 2005 Zinfandel.  It married wonderfully with all of the flavors of the meal.

Tonight is all about healthy cooking and we were off to an excellent start tonight.  Stay tuned for other tasty meals as the week goes on!

PS - Note my brand new food processor - purchased this weekend to replace the one that blew up while I prepared our New Years Eve dessert.  I can't wait to use it!!