Fruit and Grilled Pork Salad

What is it about moving that makes you fall into a black hole, where nothing exists except towers of boxes, lists of services to setup, change, or cancel, and decisions about countertops, carpet, and paint?

I'm still here, and even though I finally have internet service, my kitchen is not especially cooking-friendly. Soon. I hope. I'm really tired of eating out, and am itching to start cooking real food.

In the mean time, here is something I did before the chaos started. If you remember, I was a contestant in Foodie Fights #4 with my Grilled Pork and Cantaloupe with Spicy Balsamic Glaze back in the beginning of June. After all the excitement of the competition wore off I had some yummy left-overs in the fridge and decided to have them for lunch. But instead of just warming them up, I used them to make a scrumptious salad. It was so good, that after I enjoyed mine, I felt very obliged to make my husband, who was working from home that day, a salad, too. Besides, he would have seen the evidence in the sink ;)

For my individual salad I started with a simple oil and vinegar dressing:

In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar, about 1/8th teaspoon coarse salt, and about 1/8th teaspoon fresh ground black pepper.

To the bowl I added 3 handfulls (about 3 cups) washed, cut lettuce (I love red leaf), and then used tongs to gently turn the lettuce to coat it with the dressing.

Then I warmed the pork in the microwave, just to take the chill off, brushed it with left-over Spicy Balsamic Glaze (also warmed slightly in the microwave), and sliced it thin. I used half of the chop for my salad and half the chop for my husband's salad (though he would have liked more, I'm sure).

When I assembled the salad I added sliced cucumber and tomato to the left-over strawberries and cantaloupe. I would have added some thinly sliced red onion, too, if I'd had some. To finish it all off I drizzled some more of the Spicy Balsamic Glaze over the sliced pork.

I love it when I can use left-overs from one meal to make a totally different meal. And with the fruit, pork, and simple oil and vinegar dressing, this salad was perfect for summer. Yum!