When things get hectic, as they can be during the week, stir frying can be the quickest way to get dinner on the table. What I love about stir frying, along with the speed, is the freshness of the vegetables. Done properly, they are crisp and full of flavor. You can substitute chicken breast or tofu for the pork in this recipe if you desire.

And for dessert, a quick and easy lemon pie with a secret ingredient to make it extra tangy.

On the board tonight:

1. Pork Bowl
2. Tossed Salad
3. Tangy Lemon Pie

Pork Bowl

• 5 ounces rice sticks or noodles
• 12 ounces boneless lean pork
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp dried lemongrass or 1 tbsp fresh lemon zest
• 1 ½ tsp toasted sesame oil (or olive oil)
• ½ to 1 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 to 2 tbsp olive oil
• 8 green onions
• ½ ea red and yellow sweet pepper, cut into thin strips
• 2 to 4 ounces snow peas, washed
• 1 medium orange, peeled and thinly sliced

3 bowls, wok or large skillet

Prep rice sticks or noodles according to package directions.  Slice pork into thin strips.  In a bowl, combine pork with fish sauce, lemon grass, sesame oil, crushed red pepper and garlic. In a separate bowl, stir together broth, soy sauce and cornstarch, set aside. Heat olive oil in wok over medium heat, cook onions, pepper strips and snow peas for 2 minutes, until vegetables are tender-crisp.  Remove from wok.

Add more oil if necessary and add meat mixture and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until pork is no longer pink.  Push to sides of the wok, add soy sauce mixture, bring to a boil, stirring until thickened. Stir in pork and onion mixture. Drain noodles and add to meat mixture, toss until well coated. Add orange slices and serve immediately.

Tangy Lemon Pie

• 12 oz sweetened condensed milk
• 4 egg yolks
• 6 tbsp lemon juice
• 9 inch graham cracker pie crust (or Lemony Crust, recipe below)
• 4 oz whipped cream (whip your own or use a pre-made real cream whipped cream)

Combine milk, yolks with mixer or blender until well mixed. Add 6 tbsp lemon juice, mix well. Pour into pie shell. Bake at 250° for 20 minutes. When pie is cool, top with whipped cream and refrigerate. Decorate with lemon slices if you like and serve.

If you have time, I made a perfect crust to go with it that really enhanced the lemon flavor and was a big favorite with everyone.

Lemony Crust

• 2 cups of crushed lemon sandwich cookies ( I actually used a mix of lemon sandwich cookies and frosted lemon cookies)
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 9-inch pie plate

It took about 1/2 package of the sandwich cookies and a handful of the lemon frosted cookies to make 2 cups of crumbs.  Combine with butter, mix well and press into and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 10 minutes and let cool thoroughly before adding pie filling.  Bake as directed above.

Note: You can use bottled lemon juice, but I found the taste was better with freshly squeezed lemon; it takes approx. 2 lemons for 7 tbsp of juice.

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2014 Copyright What’s 4 Dinner Solutions Cookbook: Spring Edition