Pork Souvlaki & Indian Style Rice Pilaf and another kitchen gadget

Pork tenderloin is my other white meat. It's lean, it's affordable and it's so versatile. We grill year-round. In the wet winter, I use an indoor cast iron grill on my gas range. Outdoors, we have two grills-- a Weber grill and a gas grill. The gas grill is looking pretty worn out, but it still functions just fine. While I much prefer grilling with wood chips and charcoal, gas grills work just fine on work nights.

I decided to make my version of souvlaki, which is very simple. One of my go to quick marinades is olive oil, lemon or lime juice and zest, minced garlic and whatever herbs strike my fancy. I am fortunate to have a lot of fresh herbs, but this is when I go for dried basil, thyme and oregano.

To the marinade, I added cut-up pork tenderloin and refrigerated it for about 30 minutes.

I had made an excellent vegetarian pizza, the night before (which I have, yet, to post). I used leftover yellow and red bell pepper and onion. I had some leftover cremini mushrooms (my favorites).

This is where one of my kitchen gadgets comes in. Last summer, I bought these kabob grilling baskets at Bed, Bath & Beyond. They work great, when you don't have time to soak bamboo skewers. Somewhere, I have metal skewers, but these work just as well. I prefer to cook the meat separately from the veggies, because the veggies cook much faster. I also like that I don't have to worry about veggies falling between the grills.

These should grill pretty fast... it's a good thing I already made a salad and a side dish...


I made a rice pilaf to compliment this meal. I was searching through my spices and I found a bottle of garam masala. Use this fragrant blend for making Chicken Tikka Masala. It has spices including coriander, black pepper, cumin, cardamon and cinnamon. This seemed like a good experiment to try in rice (and I'm sure glad that I did).

I simply cooked some chopped onion in olive oil and a little bit of garlic. Next, I toasted some basmati rice and then added a heaping teaspoon of garam masala, a handful of golden raisins and I let it cook away for about 40 minutes.

From start to finish, dinner was on the table in less than an hour. This is such a simple meal to prepare but so delicious.

My husband and I particularly enjoyed this rice. I'm so glad that I found another way to enjoy this wonderful spice blend. If you haven't tried garam masala, it's a wonderful way to spice up a recipe. I can't wait to try this with lamb!