Ragout, a Great Way to Use Up Loads of Veggies!

We have been living on take-out and frozen dinner stuffs for the past few weeks. Either one or both of us have been too sick to really care about our meals. We just wanted something to eat so we could go back to bed and sleep. Now we are back to semi-normal (okay, it is never normal around here) so how about eating some good food!
My first job, now that I am feeling better, was to tackle cleaning the kitchen. Scott had helped by running the dishwasher every now and then. But the refrigerator was something out of this world. I had just done the shopping when we both got super sick.

So, there are all the lovely fresh veggies just hung out, chillin’; getting older, softer, losing vitamins. What to do?

Make a ragout!  A ragout is a well-seasoned stew in the French tradition.

Here is a ragout in the Susan tradition:

Pork Tenderloin Ragout
2 TBSP olive oil, divided
1 pork tenderloin – about 1#
2 carrots, cut into sticks
1 small delecata squash, peeled and cut into sticks
2 orange peppers, seeded veins removed, cut into strips
1 red onion, halved and sliced
2 cloves garlic, smashed well and minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, whole
2 cups celery, chopped (I just cut the top 1 inch of the celery head, then chopped my way down until I had about 2 cups of celery stalks and leaves)
2 cups crimini mushrooms, sliced if large otherwise whole
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup water
1 TBSP corn starch

Pre-heat oven to 500F

Pre-heat a large cast iron skillet or other heat proof skillet to HOT!

1. Begin browning the tenderloin in 1 TBSP oil - brown all sides!
2. When you get to the third side: add all the veggies to the pan. - if your pan is too small, wait until the meat is browned, remove it to a plate, brown the veggies, then return the meat to the pan
3. Add the rest of the oil over the veggies and stir to coat
4. Brown the last side of the meat, being sure to stir the veggies around the pan so they don’t burn
5. Place the skillet into the oven
6. Immediately reduce heat to 350F
7. Cook 30 minutes
8. Remove meat to plate to rest
9. Remove veggies to bowl.
10. Add 1 cup water mixed with 1 TBSP corn starch to the skillet and make a gravy, pour over the bowl of veggies and stir to coat.
11. Slice the meat
12. To Serve:  Spoon the veggies over a bed of brown rice garnished with a few slices of pork tenderloin.

Serves 4
Freezes well for lunches