You know my motto, if it’s April, and you aren’t having asparagus then you better have spinach.  Fine, that’s not my motto at all, but this spinach salad, well…just, well.

Spinach Salad from Two Red Bowls.

This was bacon, hard boiled eggs, almonds, goat cheese and caramelized red onion magic.   I had made it as side to my standard pork tenderloin, but seriously, the salad should be the meal.  Sorry pork tenderloin, but you were ditched.  Much of it can be made ahead on the weekend making for an easier weeknight meal (bacon, eggs, caramelized onion – just make sure you save the bacon fat in the refrigerator to use as the fat for the dressing).

But I’ll give you the ingredients for the pork tenderloin, maybe for next time:

Marinated Pork Tenderloin (adapted from one of my favorite people, Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa herself, where there is no bad recipe)

WHAT YOU NEED
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 TBSP fresh chopped parsley
1 TBSP fresh chopped rosemary
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
4 cloves minced or crushed garlic (I love Trader Joe’s frozen cloves)
2 TBSP Dijon mustard
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 pork tenderloins

WHAT YOU DO
Combine all the ingredients in a large ziploc bag and marinate the pork tenderloins in the refrigerator. It’s better overnight, but also good if done about 5 hours ahead. Again, it’s something you can do on Sunday for Monday’s dinner. Heat oven to 400.

Remove tenderloins from marinade and either sear in a pan on the stovetop and transfer to a baking sheet and roast in oven for about 25 minutes or until temperature reaches 1405F (or more, if you are like me and still barely want to see pink). If you don’t feel like dirtying two pans, you can just roast in oven and then flip half way through so both sides get a little brown.

I also served it with this minute rice blend:

It’s a mix of brown rice, red rice, wild rice and quinoa.  I don’t know why I originally bought it, but it’s very good for instant, weeknight rice/quinoa.  Now, you may ask yourself, if you have a rice and grain drawer

yes, I said a rice and grain drawer, then you may ask yourself, why in the world are you buying a Minute Rice blend? Because when you find out for the umpteenth time that regulators have changed their minds again about how a 5 year old rule should be interpreted, well, ain’t no one got time for measuring cups.

And please enjoy what Guitar Boy concocted for dessert to melt out of leftover Easter candy.

Stop looking  at me with those sad Peep eyes.