As promised, this is another recipe to help you feature leftover pork tenderloin. In this case, the pork tenderloin I used was from my recipe for Grilled Soy Sauce Marinated Pork Tenderloin on this site. And it all came together beautifully.

First of all I should tell you once again that I love main course dinner salads. And if the meat or protein is already cooked, all the better! One less step for me. Of course the hacking and slashing of the veggies (my friend Vicki’s term for cutting vegetables) still has to occur, and the dressing still has to be prepared, but what the heck, there’s still one less step to construct. (I’ll take all the help I can get on this one, because I do get tired of chopping veggies and building salad dressings!) But I love salads, so I guess it’s a small price to pay to eat a dish that’s healthy from all the veggies and dressed with a vinaigrette that’s not only tasty, but doesn’t contain ingredients I can’t pronounce! Like I said, all the better.

So next time you have leftover meat of any kind, use it in a salad. Have leftover roasted veggies, they are wonderful in salad too. Dried fruit, nuts, and seeds can also add a wonderful touch to an otherwise boring combination of lettuce and dressing. Let your imagination be your guide.

And please do make your own salad dressings. Homemade dressings save money, and help insure that only quality ingredients reach the lips of the ones you love. Of course, the shelf life on homemade dressing is very short in comparison to that bottle of dressing you purchased how many months ago? I rest my case!

• 2 T. vegetable oil
• 2 T. sesame oil
• 1 T. finely minced fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 2 T. white vinegar (not white wine vinegar; the old fashioned inexpensive vinegar)
• 1 T. fresh lemon juice
• ½ tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 c. chopped romaine lettuce
• 1 c. thinly sliced red cabbage
• ½ c. finely diced celery
• ½ c. sliced green onions
• 1 med. carrot, grated
• ½ c. frozen edamame, thawed
• 2 T. toasted sesame seeds
• ½ c. toasted slivered almonds
• thinly sliced grilled pork tenderloin (I use leftover Grilled Soy Sauce Marinated Pork Tenderloin on this site.)

Whisk or shake together the vegetable oil, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice, sugar, salt, and pepper.

Combine the romaine, cabbage, celery, green onions, carrot, edamame, sesame seeds, and almonds in a salad bowl. Pour on enough salad dressing to moisten. Avoid adding too much dressing or the salad will taste heavy or over-dressed. (It is meant to be a light and refreshing salad and just perfect for a warm summer evening.)

Scoop salad onto individual plates and top with pork.