pork chop and fennel stir fry over quinoa

second rendition of leftovers for lunch today!  :)

i admit i was excited and a little scared to get back in the kitchen after three weeks of not lifting a finger and having amazing meals made for us in europe, but it was really no trouble slipping back into it (except worrying just a bit that whatever i was making for will was not very good in comparison! :)

we recently signed up for a local organic produce delivery service, and got our first box a few days ago.  i wanted one that DIDN’T give you a choice on what you got so i could be surprised and hopefully push my boundaries just a little!  

i ALSO got a wonderful cookbook from my sweetie that is more along the lines of ingredients and ideas than about recipes.  the ones included are a bit more loosely structured....with a kind of “here’s what you do with the base ingredient and then add whatever else you want” approach, which DOESN’T get me in a panic!  :)

so in our first produce box we got a couple heads of fennel with everything still attached, and i was faced with something i have never, ever cooked with before.  perfect!  i looked  it up in my handy dandy new book and found that, among other things, you can slice up the heads and saute them.  again, perfect!

i put some quinoa on to cook (about 20 minutes, i’ve found, in a 1:2 water ratio) and put on some fresh spring onions (also from our produce box :) to start browning with some butter while i sliced up the fennel heads.

we also had some leftover pork chops from dinner with the folks (one of which i used on a pizza at my birthday party the night before ;) so i sliced one up and tossed it in with the onions and fennel.  

i stirred occasionally ‘til the quinoa was done, putting in some fresh garlic towards the end.  i mixed a little olive oil and salt in with the quinoa, which i put first on the plate and put the stir fry on top with a little fresh fennel “leaf” garnish.

pork chop and fennel stir fry over quinoa

approximate price: $5