Pork loin roast with cranberry and then its transformation into cuban sandwiches

America's Test Kitchen is my newest recipe treasure trove.  I like having the option of labor intensive or not.  Plus, every recipe is practically guaranteed to be my new favorite.

Wednesday is usually a night that has to be pretty quick, so I was excited to try a new slow cooker recipe.  I have exciting plans for transforming this into a fun dinner on Thursday.

Slow cooker cranberry pork loin

Dry the 4-5lb pork loin roast with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Brown it all over in about 1 T vegetable oil on the stove.

Mix together the following in the slow cooker insert

(14oz) can whole berry cranberry sauce

1/2 c dried cranberries

1/2 c OJ

3 strips of orange zest

1/8 t cinnamon

Nestle the pork loin into the cranberry mixture and cook on low for about 4 hours.  Allow the roast to rest for about 10 minutes while you boil the cranberry mixture down to make a yummy sauce. 

The sauce was a definite hit.

cuban sandwich with left over pork loin

So for Thursday night I made my own version of a cuban sandwich.  The pork loin, ham, swiss, pickles, banana peppers, and mustard.

Black Bean-tomato soup with lime sour cream

And just to round it out I made one of my favorite quick soups.  This combines a little bacon with black beans, diced tomato, and chicken broth.  Just enough cumin and chipotle chile pepper makes it spicy.  Sure Lisa, one magical animal...