Pork Loin

Sometimes a great dinner comes from finding a great recipe.. and sometimes a great dinner comes from finding what's on hand in the refrigerator and the grocery sale aisle. Tonight that included a pre-marinated pork loin and a side dish of sauteed zucchini with some spare onion and turkey bacon. And for dessert, the toaster oven version of our recent crispy chocolate chip cookies (perfect way to make "just a few" extra warm cookies, with leftover dough in the fridge).

Speaking of toaster ovens, our first experience with pre-marinated mini pork loins was a couple months ago with a crippling ice storm in Atlanta and one convection oven. It was actually Dan who did this experiment, in the convection oven in his office one evening to share with co-workers (many of whom had been stuck downtown in hotels for days while the icy roads were impassible). It cooked beautifully to 165-degrees in the convection oven.

Cooked for 1 hour and got to safe temperature ... however the heat of our oven melted the glass off of my candy thermometer!

Delicious side dish made from "pantry staples" - 3 zucchini, 2 slices turkey bacon, 1/4 onion, dried thyme.  For next time: zucchini needs several minutes to saute and soften, and if bacon and onion are added first, they will start to burn.

As they say on Iron Chef: It's all about the plating.

It's all about the toaster oven mini-baking sheet!