Strawberry-Basil Vinaigrette...dreaming of Summer on a misty Spring day

As the weather warms, I once again begin to eat salads regularly.  I just can't bring myself to eat cold crisp vegetables in the dead of Winter or even the brisk Fall.  I lean towards soups and stews and roasted vegetables during those months.  But now we've had a couple hot, hot days and I'm back to buying the giant mixed greens from Costco once again...until my own garden becomes plentiful.  So today is shopping day and in a last minute decision I came home for lunch.  All we have are greens.  No cucumber, no avocado, no apples, no nothing.  Just greens.  So I peak around every corner of my fridge to see if I can find something, ANYTHING, to dress up this salad. Ah-ha!  I found Strawberry-Basil Jam from a local market down in Charlottesville.  Perfect!  I quickly made a vinaigrette and my not-so-fancy greens became a delicious salad.  Topped with a little cold/leftover flank steak and lunch was complete.  Here is a modified version of what I did to make the dressing, I assume not everyone has Strawberry-Basil jam sitting around in their fridge.  Use what you have, almost any flavor will do! And kids LOVE these slightly sweet salad dressings.
Enjoy!

1/3 cup good balsamic vinegar
2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (cold-pressed)
1 tsp stoneground or Dijon mustard
1 tsp strawberry preserves (with real ingredients, no junk) or to make it Paleo just crush up some fresh strawberries
A few basil leaves (shred in advance if you won't be using a blender/processor)
A pinch of salt
A grind or two of pepper
Process in a blender, vitamix, food processor or whisk intensely until all ingredients are well incorporated.

10:00pm pork dinner

So it's 9:55pm and I realize that I will NOT be home in time to cook dinner the following evening.  AHHHHH!!!!  Mama just wants to finish the dishes and go to bed!  I needed something easy and I needed something FAST!  I had an organic pork tenderloin in the fridge, found this recipe and made my own changes of course..... It was in the oven in no time, only ONE pan to clean and I did all the dishes and evening chores while it was roasting.  It came out just perfect, even the next day.  In fact, I just had the last piece of it for breakfast this morning, four days later!  I even made it to bed before 11:00pm = success.
Here is my version which I served with a nice kale salad.
Hope you enjoy!

• 1 large pork tenderloin (about 14 ounces)
• 3 tablespoons lard, ghee or coconut oil, divided (I used lard)
• 2 tablespoons whole grain Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds (I only had 1 tsp left, so I also added 1 tsp of dried rosemary)
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, sliced 1/4 inch thick (I only had one honeycrisp apple, two would've been better)

• 1/2 cup dry white wine or apple cider (I never even got to this step and it was still delicious!)

Preheat oven to 450°F. Season pork with salt and pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil/lard in large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and sear until all sides are brown, turning occasionally, about 5 minutes. Transfer pork to plate. Cool slightly. Spread mustard over top and sides of pork; press fennel seeds and/or dried rosemary into mustard. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil/lard to skillet. Add onion slices and apples; sauté over medium heat until golden, about 5 minutes. Spread evenly in skillet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place pork atop apple-onion mixture.

Transfer skillet to oven and roast until apple-onion mixture is soft and brown and meat thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 150°F, about 15 minutes. Transfer pork to platter and tent with foil. Let stand 5 minutes. 

***I stopped here because my computer died and I thought that was the end.  We ate the pork with the onion-apple mixture as it is, and it was perfectly yummy!  If I had remembered and had time, I may do the final step, written here...

Meanwhile, pour white wine over apple-onion mixture in skillet. Stir mixture over high heat until slightly reduced, about 2 minutes. Cut pork on diagonal into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Spoon apple-onion mixture onto plates. Top with pork and serve.