Salad days...Roasted sweet potato and black bean salad with cumin amd coffee rubbed pork

Peppers are considered one of the worst vegetables to retain harmful pesticides. Click to download a helpful shopping guide from the Environmental Working Group on what produce to avoid.

Darlings, it's time to get serious for a second! Ever since La Diva started buying organic produce from Community Supported Agriculture, I've been trying to be very conscientious about avoiding eating produce that retains harmful amounts of pesticide residue. Some of the worst offenders are:

• apples
• bell peppers
• celery
• cherries
• imported grapes
• nectarines
• peaches
• pears
• potatoes
• raspberries
• spinach
• strawberries

Master's Touch Organics produces gorgeously sweet mini bell peppers

As La Diva has been doing a number of salads each week for main meals where I am eating uncooked produce, I think it's important to eat organic for not only taste but for health as well, natch! Seeing as non-organic red peppers are one of the worst offenders on the list, La Diva found some wonderfully sweet miniature red, orange and yellow peppers for the salads.

What's great about the mini peppers is that you can use one whole pepper per salad without having to use part of a regular red pepper which generally spoil quicker once cut! This allows me to keep fresh peppers longer without waste while also avoiding pesticide ridden produce. Plus there are hardly any seeds in the mini peppers. The box also contains about 10 mini peppers for the price of just one large pepper!

Go on, click on the photo!!! That pork sure tasted succulent, what a refreshing salad!

Roasted sweet potato and black bean salad with cumin and coffee rubbed pork loin*

Pork and rub ingredients:

One small pork loin roast or do what La Diva did and cut a large one into thirds! (about 1.5 lb. piece)

Spice rub:
finely ground coffee (make sure you grind this very finely to a powder or else it will only add a bitter taste and burn)
ground cumin
garlic salt
salt
freshly ground black pepper
chili powder

Combine ingredients to taste and rub over entire loin. Refrigerate and take out about a half an hour before roasting.

Meanwhile...

Oh dear....This photo needs no explaining...or does it? blech! La Diva will never look at lettuce the same way!

Roasted sweet potato black bean salad:

1 large sweet potato, peeled
1/2 can rinsed black beans
1/4 red onion, diced finely
3 T cilantro
juice from one lime
extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper and ground cumin to taste

Preheat oven to 450. Dice sweet potato into small cubes, put in roasting pan. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil generously over the sweet potatoes and toss to coat evenly. Add a generous amount of salt. Make sure potatoes are all in one even layer in the pan. Roast on high heat until brown on all sides and cooked through, checking every 5 minutes and turning.

Let cool to room temperature and add all ingredients together, set aside. Salt and pepper to taste. Turn down oven to 350 degrees.

Heat a heavy based skillet with some olive oil and sear all sides of the meat. Pop into oven and roast until just cooked. Don't overcook and remember it will still cook a bit when it's resting out of the oven.

Puttin' it together:

Add a layer of greens and finely sliced cucumbers on a plate. Add a fair amount of organic red or yellow pepper rings. Dress lightly with extra virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar and salt and pepper. Cut rested and cooled pork thinly and fan several slices over greens and veggies. Generously top off with sweet potato black bean salad.

A Southwestern sunrise by David Rothermel

Result: DAMN, I JUST LOVE ROASTED SWEET POTATOES! The caramelized flavor melds so nicely with the cumin and coffee-rubbed pork and mellow black beans. The cilantro and lime gives the salad the nice bright citrus kick along with subtle smokey Southwestern flavors from the rub and potato salad.

This salad is full of color, protein and is low carb to boot! And La Diva is lovin' the crunchy texture of the peppers with the light crunch of the roasted yams.

*This salad is BIG FELLA APPROVED and meets the strict satiety guidelines of DJ Nevah L8!
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