peas at a party

On tap for Week 3 . . .

• Sweet potatoes and chili?  It may sound crazy, but it’s a favorite and it’s super fast with the 10-layer salad.
• Mastering the art of great chicken starts with a simple (and quick) pan grill.  Team this with sweet, colorful, caramelized vegetables for the best of natural flavors.
• Whether you call them loosemeats, Tastees, taverns, or just Maid-Rites (after the Iowa chain founded over 80 years ago), loosemeats sandwiches are so popular in the upper Midwest that you’ll find them on the menu at the Dairy Queen, another Iowa invention.  The Maid-Rite(r) secret brown flavoring syrup is widely reported to be cola syrup (still available from Walgreen’s), and this homemade version uses cola.  But whatever you do, don’t add tomato sauce else the Midwest food police will come knocking, and you’ll have to explain why you turned a loosemeats into a sloppy joe!
• The apple salad will have you looking around for some golden arches, but when the menu comes together you’ll be thinking elegant.  This award-winning pork tenderloin recipe is one of our three favorites for this lean “other white meat.”

I’d love to hear how the recipes and menus work for you.