Indian Spiced Pork Skewers and Baked Acorn Squash

Somehow The Picky Apple wound up trying Indian food long before I did, which is quite the anomaly, given that he’s The Picky Apple.  Based on his positive reviews, I’ve experimented with several Indian food recipes in the last couple of months, including Chicken Tikka Masala and Naan, and thus far, I’ve enjoyed all of it.  We tried these Indian Spiced Pork Skewers recently and absolutely loved them!  I thought I was playing it safe by only cooking one pork tenderloin, but we were both wishing we had more leftovers since it was so yummy!  This recipe will definitely be making regular appearances on my weekly menus.  This time I served with Basmati rice and Baked Acorn Squash (recipe below).

I cooked Basmati rice for the first time recently, and I am absolutely in love with this rice.  As much as it is possible to love rice anyway.  It is so much better than any other rice I’ve cooked…fluffier, less sticky, tastier.  This is the only kind of rice I’ll be using from now on!  (And there is brown Basmati, too!)

Indian Spiced Pork Skewers

from Our Best Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2-2lbs pork tenderloin or sirloin pork roast
• 2 red bell peppers
• 1 large onion
• 1 T pressed garlic (or minced)
• 1 T curry powder
• 1 1/2 t kosher salt (much less if you’re using table salt, but you shouldn’t be using table salt!)
• 1/2 T cumin
• 1/2 T coriander
• 1/8 t cayenne pepper
• 1/4 C fresh lemon juice
• 3 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 T water

Cut your pork into 1 1/2″ chunks and place in a zip-lock bag. Prepare peppers and onions by chopping into squares as well and then store in the fridge.  Press garlic into a small bowl.  Mix the garlic and salt in a small bowl with the cumin, curry, and coriander and cayenne.  Add fresh lemon juice (not bottled!) and olive oil and stir it all up.  Pour spice mixture in the zip-lock bag with the pork. Seal bag, give it a good smoosh, and then let it sit in the fridge for 3-4 hours (longer is just fine).  Before skewering make sure to soak bamboo skewers in water for 20-30 minutes. Thread on pork chunks and alternate with red pepper and onion.  Grill on a preheated med heat grill for about 10 minutes total. Rotate them often to avoid burning. If you’ve cut your pork chunks an inch or smaller, they’ll be done pretty fast. Don’t overcook!  Pile them on a platter and serve hot.

Baked Acorn Squash

This was also my first time cooking (and tasting) Acorn Squash.  I saw them at the Farmers’ Market last weekend, sitting next to the Butternut Squash (one of my favorites), and decided to try something new for a change.  They just looked so beautiful!  I used a simple baking method, and overall, I thought it was pretty good.  I’m not sure The Picky Apple cared for it that much, but I think it could be really great with a little experimenting.  Maybe some bacon?

from Epicurious

Cut 1 acorn squash in half. Scoop out seeds. Put 1 teaspoon of butter in the center of each half, then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, ginger, and nutmeg. Place both squash halves in a pan with 1/4 inch water and bake at 350°F for one hour.