It's not always a bad thing!

I'm convinced, as some of my friends may already suspect, that I am in the middle of a full-fledged mid-life crisis. I'm cognisant enough to recognize some of the traits. Emotional sensitivity aside, the other night a friend and I went out for a drink and the next morning I was a buzz with the idea that I had been hit on by a much younger woman. Now. . . another good friend of mine was blunt enough to ask what "being hit on actually meant"; and one of my friendly nieces, after being regaled with the story, observed not very delicately that the young lady probably felt sorry for the old guy looking awkward in a martini bar!

And then the other afternoon, after I commented on one of the new inhabitants of our neighbourhood - we're two blocks from the university and it's frosh week - my regular dining partner suggested that the girl looked "cheap and sleazy!" . . . as if it wasn't a good thing!

I think there’s a lot to be said for cheap and sleazy; and appropriately I use this same moniker for meals that have a high return with little invested effort. My favorite is a twist on Greek.

Yesterday afternoon I marinated a piece of Pork Tenderloin in the juice of two lemons, 3 garlic cloves, several tablespoons of fresh dill and some olive oil. I blended this together using a hand blender, and then I left the pork in it for a few hours (the pork can marinate in this for as little as an hour and still take on a lot of flavour). I ended up barbecuing the pork over charcoal.

Along with the pork I made some rice into which I stirred a quarter cup of chopped fresh dill, some lemon zest, and drizzled some avocado oil. And along side I made a faux Greek salad - chopped Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, and roasted pine nuts with a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil and oregano - and some Canadian Feta. . . I never suggested it had to be authentic.

The actual prep and cooking of this meal was no more than thirty minutes - with plenty of down-time between marinating, grilling and serving.

And the result is amazing taste - a high ROI for the time invested. Now that is cheap and sleazy!