Delightfully Carnivorous

My first dish this week is an ode to the carnivore. Many of the recipes I have chosen thus far have been vegetarian or pescetarian so I decided to go meat heavy for this dish. Tonight I prepared Roast Pork Loin with Sweet Potatoes and Cilantro Sauce from a Cook's Illustrated cookbook. What I appreciate most about this recipe is the simplicity of the spices and flavors. For example, the spice rub for the pork is made from coriander, cumin and black pepper. The sweet potatoes are roasted with the pork but they are coated with only canola oil and 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne. I love it when a dish is perfectly designed to be minimalistic but is still extremely flavorful.

The most complex part of this recipe, which is still quite simple, is the cilantro sauce. The sauce is made from 2 bunches of cilantro (stems on), 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 tsp sugar, 4 tsps lime juice, 2 garlic cloves, salt and black pepper. These ingredients are pulsed in a food processor and then refrigerated to serve as an accoutrement to the pork. Delightful all the way around. We had Carl over for dinner and he is, how shall I say it? Okay, he is finicky about his food. He likes it prepared a certain way, he is just sure he knows exactly what he likes and he isn't usually open to foods that include ingredients on his dislike list. I can hardly believe it, but Carl liked everything I put on the table tonight. He even tried the cilantro sauce and liked it well enough to put a portion on his second slice of pork. Neither Brad nor Carl are self-professed sweet potato fans but they both liked the way these sweet potatoes were prepared. All I have to say to this is yahoo! Another successful dinner. Tomorrow night is a slow-cooked Maple, Molasses and Beer Bean Pot. Sounds vegetarian but somehow I think the pound of bacon in this recipe negates the whole vegetarian thing.

This leads me to thinking out loud here for a few moments. Why is it that I haven't eaten chicken for thirteen years (nor will I eat it for the next 13 years) and I took beef out of my diet 13 months ago but I still choose to eat pork? I have actually pondered this several times but my brain becomes exhausted after one minute of pondering so I shove it all the way to the back to be reviewed at a later date. I think I may have had an epiphany about this issue tonight. I realized that I really do believe that bacon makes everything taste better and I am not willing to forfeit the pure enjoyment it brings me. So, if I am to believe in eating bacon, how can I discriminate against other pork products? It just wouldn't be fair to pork in general, would it? I also realized that eating pork may be my way of eating white meat since I don't eat chicken. Is it so wrong to be okay with eating "the other white meat" instead of the original white meat? I grew up during the time when "pork; the other white meat" commercials were on during Saturday morning cartoons. Is it my fault we are so impressionable as young kids? I digress. Back to the issue at hand. Somehow this brain of mine has justified eating cute little pink pigs yet I will not eat chicken, lamb, rabbit or veal. Hmmm........can anyone figure this one out? Don't think about it too hard. It may hurt. :)