Pork and Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Butternut Squash Soup

Preston thinks pork and sweet potatoes are a bit of an odd pair to meet up in a quesadilla.  I can see his point; he's used to the traditional variation of the quesadilla. You might call him an expert on the subject if you knew how often he ordered quesadillas at restaurants and the variety of locations around the continent where this quesadilla ordering has occurred.  

However, the sweet potato mimics cheese pretty well here.  If I were making a different meal with pork, I might use sweet potatoes as the side.  Oh wait, I did.  that's why I have these particular leftovers.  I would also put the two together in a slow cooker, the meat in all it's glory and the sweet potatoes dressed in foil for the occasion.

But... maybe it is just me.  Maybe I have an unnatural affinity to toss as much as possible in between two pieces of bread (which is essentially what tortillas are) and enjoy the different tastes mingled together.  This theory also explains my obsession with soups.

I do have memories of "Chicken Sandwich Day" from the cafeteria at West Memorial Jr. High, which was one of my favorite days.  The lunch ladies intended it to be a thawed, breaded chicken patty on a generic, bulk bought bun accompanied by the usual suspects: lettuce, tomato, pickles (LTP).  But by the time I was ready to eat, the chicken sandwich was piled high with mayonnaise, cheetos, LTP and whatever else happened to be on my plate. It stood tall.  It made the girlie girls at the lunch table grimace and the boys cheer me on.  I think it may have started as a dare that I ended up enjoying, much like little Billy ended up liking fried worms.  But whatever else it was, to me, it was a masterpiece.

Perhaps this is why, when I found Emeril's recipe for Pork Tenderloin and Sweet Potato Quesadillas with Salsa Verde Crema, I felt excited rather than hesitant to try it for myself.  Of course, I'm sure Emeril's is better.  I didn't actually make the salsa verde crema and I was working with leftovers, but I did okay here.

The Butternut Squash Soup was the first thing I got going.  The original recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book and it is a Butternut Squash and Carrot soup.  Made to the recipe, it is very good, but I didn't have carrots.  It also wanted me to chop up a whole butternut squash, but the few times I have attempted to tackle the hard as nails squash, I failed.  So I used an organic butternut squash soup instead. The recipe is below.

Rather than use the recipe ingredients to marinate the pork and cook it special for this recipe, I just used a smaller amount of them and stirred them in with the pork leftovers I already had.  I also chopped up the pork in the food processor.  I nuked the sweet potatoes in the microwave and mashed them up, sprinkling them with my beloved aloha seasoning.  Then I put the two together in between two tortillas and browned on each side.  Done! 

Butternut Squash Soup

1 carton butternut squash soup, equal to 3 cups

28 oz. chicken broth 

I leek, chopped (I only had half a leek frozen and a few scallions, so I used a combo of the two)

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 tbsp butter or margarine

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 cup half and half, or soy creamer

pumpkin seeds (optional)

In a large covered sauce pan, melt butter, cook veggies over medium heat about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add squash soup and broth.  Bring to boiling. Reduce heat, simmer, covered for 20 minutes. 

In batches, puree mixture in blender or food processor.  Return all of mixture to sauce pan.  Add white pepper and nutmeg, bring just to boiling.  Add soy creamer or half and half.  Heat through.  Garnish with pumpkin seeds or a dab of sour cream.

Enjoy!