Pork Tenderloin, Green Beans, Sweet Potato Puree

In the vein of one of those Top Chef-y pun competitions, I thought about titling this "Pork and Beans."

Port Tenderloin: pre-marinated Herb Dijon tenderloin from Central Market. So fast if you can get your husband to pre-heat the grill on time. He grills it for about 18 min total for medium-medium well.

Green Beans: No pain, no gain. These summer beauties are no haricot verts and are annoying to prep but worth it. I've discovered that we prefer our gb's sauteed rather than blanched or braised as Cooks Illustrated suggests. It seems more like what we're used to or more Southern (especially Southern when you add bacon). They're worried about the beans losing their vibrant color, but who isn't used to drab color from a can? Anything is prettier and fresher than that!

2 handfuls of gb's
1 strip bacon
1/2 c chicken stock
S&P

Trim ends of gb's and cut in half. Put bacon into cold pan and turn heat on to med heat. Flip a few times with tongs so it doesn't get curly and cook until crispy. Remove bacon to paper towels. toss gb's into pan and sautee for 5 min. Pour in chick stock and scrape up any fond from the bacon. Cover and cook for about 15 min or until tender.

Sweet Potato Puree: Easy but can turn out like baby food with the wrong utensils. The wrong utensil would be the food processor. It cuts all the lovely sinews from the potato and it's too easy to over mix. I prefer the beater attachment on my stand mixer. If you don't use the foil, you'll end up with sugar burnt onto your baking sheet and it's near impossible to clean.

2 sweet potatoes
2-3 tbsp butter
S&P

Preheat to 4oo. Roast sp's on a cookie sheet lined with foil for 40-50 min. Remove and let cool for 5-10 min until you can handle them without killing yourself. Cut a slit in each one and pinch the ends while dumping them into the mixing bowl. Should fall righ out of the skin, but a fork may help. Add butter and s&p, mix until desired puree.