What to do with leftover Pork Loin? Part 2

Aaahhh, for the first time in a very long time, we have a calm, uneventful weekend planned.  I am so excited!  I can't wait for Andy, Celia, Charlie and I to hang out and do laundry.  You know you're getting older when doing laundry excites you more than going out on a weekend!  We started our weekend off with a family dinner of pork loin leftovers.  I am happy to say that after making my Pecan Pork Cakes and adding some pork to our baked beans, we are finished with the leftover pork and will be on to new leftover recipes.  But first, the recipe for Pecan Pork Cakes.  They are delicious!  These are very similar to Crab Cakes, but with a sweeter taste and a smoother texture.  I topped them with a tangy sauce; the recipe for it will follow the Pecan Pork Cakes' recipe.  Hopefully your weekend will be as relaxing and productive as I'm planning on ours being!

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Pecan Pork Cakes
Ingredients:
2 1/2 Cups Chopped Pork
1/4 Cup Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Pecan Meal*
1/8 Cup Bread Crumbs
2 Eggs
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Onion Powder
1/4 Tsp Ground Mustard
1/4 Tsp Pepper
1 Pinch of Sugar

Grind chopped pork loin and cream cheese in food processor until smooth.  Pour into a separate bowl.  Add pecan meal, bread crumbs, and eggs.  Mix thoroughly.  Add spices and mix again.  Heat oil in a frying pan.  Form pork into 2" to 2 1/2" patties.  Drop patties into oil and fry until golden brown.  Flip and fry the other side until both sides are golden brown.  Place on a plate with a paper towel, so the oil can drain off.  This recipe makes roughly 7 cakes.

*If you do not have pecan meal, simply grind pecans up in your food processor until finely chopped.

Dipping Sauce
Ingedients:
1/8 Cup BBQ Sauce
1/8 Cups Sweet n' Sour Sauce
2 Packs of Soy Sauce (the kind you get with Chinese take-out)
1/2 TBSP Honey

Whisk all ingredients together.  Serve with your Pecan Pork Cakes.

What to do with a leftover cucumber and green pepper?

We are blessed with wonderful neighbors.  We live in a quiet, little neighborhood and we have become good friends with the neighbors on all our sides and across the street.  So, the other day on our snow day, our neighbor Marty brought us a bag of groceries because they were going out of town.  I love when people give us food.  It's always different from what I would buy and gives me new ideas for recipes.  In the bag was half a cucumber.  Normally I would just cut it up because Celia loves to eat cucumber slices, but instead I made a sweet bean salad with it.  The good thing about this salad is that it tastes better the second day after marinating in the fridge overnight.


Sweet Bean Salad
Ingredients:
1/2 Large Green Pepper Chopped
1 Large Cucumber Chopped
15 Baby Carrots Chopped
1/4 to 1/2 Cup Onion Chopped (add more, if you like onions a lot)
1 Can of Beans (I used small white ones)
2 TBSP Sugar
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1 TBSP Rice Wine Vinegar
Salt
Pepper

In a large bowl, mix together green peppers, cucumbers, carrots, onions and beans.  In a separate bowl make dressing.   Whisk together sugar, olive oil, and vinegar.  Pour over veggie mixture.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  I was very generous with both.