Macaroni Salad and Grilled Soy Sauce Pork

With the warmer weather, my chives have been growing rather quickly and abundantly in my garden. That and the fact that we’ve been getting May weather in March, I figure it’s time to make our much-loved, favorite macaroni salad. I told Keith, if there’s only one summer dish I could make in the Summer, this would be it! I first saw this dish in Martha’s (Stewart) Summer Favorites DVD but unfortunately, I couldn’t find the recipe on her website. Consequently, I had to get the measurements off the show itself and experiment with the amount of a couple of ingredients (because the quantity used was never mentioned). The result was a deliciously refreshing and addictive side dish which I could eat all Summer long. See if you agree with me. Enjoy!

1 pound elbow macaroni
2 large red bell peppers, roasted, peeled, stemmed, seeded, cut into ¼” to ½” pieces*
1 large orange bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, cut into ¼” to ½” pieces
1 english cucumber, peeled, seeded, cut into ¼” to ½” pieces
½ cup minced chives
Juice of 1 large lemon
1½ cups mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste

* To roast peppers, place whole peppers on a sheet pan lined with foil and broil in the oven until the skin is completely charred, turning it a few times. Remove pan from the oven and wrap peppers with a piece of foil or paper towel (be careful as the pepper will be really hot). Set aside until the pepper is cool enough to handle. Then, remove the skin, stem, and seeds and cut into size.

Cook pasta until tender. Drain and remove to a large bowl or dish and cool, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, prep your veggies – roast the red bell peppers (instructions above), cut the orange bell pepper and cucumber, and mince the chives. Once pasta has cooled, toss pasta with all the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until cool before serving.

Grilled Soy Sauce Pork Tenderloin

This time, I decided to serve the salad with grilled pork tenderloin (love this cut of meat because of how tender it is – great for quick cooking) that has been marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, sherry, sugar, and white pepper. This simple but oh so delicious marinade is the base marinade for almost all of my Asian-style grilled meat. Occasionally, I would even add some minced shallot and/or garlic to the marinade for a slight variation (this version is spectacular with chicken wings)…OMG, I’m drooling just writing this up. :D Here’s the recipe:

3½ to 5 pounds pork tenderloin, trimmed of excess fat
½ cup light soy sauce
2 tablespoons cream sherry
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon white pepper

After trimming the pork, I normally cut the strips into more manageable sizes – I would cut each strip in half widthwise and butterfly each half lengthwise to create a more even thickness for grilling. Place meat in a gallon-size ziploc bag, set aside. In a small bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients together. Pour marinade mixture into the ziploc bag, seal the bag, and turn the bag a few times to get the meat and marinade to mix evenly. Refrigerate for at least an hour and a half, flipping the ziploc bag halfway through. Grill until meat is cooked. Slice and serve with the macaroni salad.