Tomatillo Pork Stew, A Steak and a Soup

I made a pork and tomatillo stew earlier in the week, a variation from a real recipe in a slow-cooker cookbook. I had Niman Ranch pork shoulder and decided to go the easy way with jarred salsa and a can of green enchilada sauce. I should have known better, it was good, but kind of flat and one-dimensionally salty in spite of the browned onions, chile and 1/2 bottle of beer I added. I won't take that many shortcuts in one recipe again.

Tonight was skirt steak, grilled out in the wind, and Beets Two Ways. This is what we call it, I habitually buy beets with the greens, and we make a roasted beet with blue cheese salad as well as sauteed beet greens. I roasted the beets during MZ's nap, and sauteed the greens while the meat was resting. R. grilled the meat and made the salad, so it was a pretty easy dinner, along with some roasted purple potatoes.

I've been trying to get a grip on our refrigerator. It was good to get those potatoes used up, as well as some russets that have been sitting around since Chanukah, a bunch of leeks, some chicken stock left over from stretching S's fabulous matzo ball soup, and a ham steak I bought, then rejected, for my New Year's black eyed peas. I started off making potato leek soup, rustic-style with the potatoes lightly broken up rather than fully pureed. I added some ham and then couldn't resist throwing in some frozen spinach. No dairy, and it's hearty enough for a meal with some good bread and a salad. A keeper.