Thai Pork Salad

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces thin rice noodles
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Asian chili sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves, chopped
• 1 pound pork tenderloin, cut into thin 3-inch-long strips
• 4 cups shredded cabbage
• 2 apples, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1/4 cup cashews, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Bring a pot of water to boil; add the noodles and boil until cooked, about 3 minutes; drain.

2. In a bowl, whisk together the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, chili sauce, salt, and half the basil and mint. Toss the pork strips with 2 tablespoons of the dressing; set aside.

3. Combine the noodles, cabbage, apples, carrots, and red and green peppers in a large serving bowl. Toss with remaining dressing, basil, and mint.

4. Heat the sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook, stirring, until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Toss with the cabbage mixture and divide among four plates. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon cashews.

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Pumpkin-Date Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4  cups  all-purpose flour
• 1  teaspoon  baking powder
• 1/2  teaspoon  baking soda
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 2  large  eggs, beaten
• 1  cups  canned unsweetened pumpkin
• 1  cups  chopped dates
• 1/3  cup  light brown sugar
• 3  tablespoons  extra-light olive oil

Directions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Line the cups of a standard (11-by-14-1.5 inch) muffin pan with paper liners or coat the cups with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine first 6 ingredients. Make a well in the center; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine remaining 5 ingredients. Pour mixture into well in dry ingredients and stir until mix is just moistened and batter is still slightly lumpy.

Pour batter into muffin cups until each is three-quarters full.

Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until tops are light golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in pan on a rack, then remove from pan to cool completely.

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