Two For One Meals: Roast Pork and Pork Panini with Garlic Aioli

I hate this time of the semester.  What sadist timed the end of every quarter and semester to fall near a holiday of one kind or another?  While this can be tiring at the best of times, with 5 weeks to go and a husband often working too late to be of any use around the house this year is brutal!

In an attempt to make sure everyone is still fed, I once again gave the old slow cooker a whirl.  I hate the slow cooker.  No matter how many times I hear... oh this is fantastic, it rarely is.  However, faced with a night alone after a late meeting, and a working late hubby, and child I wanted to do something that didn't involve calling the local pizza place (being that I did that on the Monday and thought twice in a week was probably pushing it).

I had a pork roast in the fridge that was suppose to be all dolled up and served with fingerling potatoes and fried brussel sprouts but it looked like just me and the little man, and while I didn't know if he would eat that stuff to begin with, I knew he wasn't going to leave me alone long enough to safely make anything fried.  So out of desperation I typed Roast Pork Slowcooker recipes in the search engine.  I figured, it was better than nothing, and better than throwing the pork out.  Here is the recipe I got back, and it was simple, and fast, and tasted GOOD, and will be made again and again this weekend, especially after our new arrival makes sleep more important than cooking.

Recipe 1 (no photo because even if it taste good crock pot food rarely looks good):

Slowcooker Roast Pork
(not sure... the internet somewhere)

Ingredients

3 pound roast pork
6 potatoes
6 carrots
1 envelope dried onion soup mix
1 cup water

Method

Peel and chop veggies, place in bottom of slow cooker
Cut roast in half, lay on top of veggies, fat side up if you have a fatty side
Combine soup mix and water
Pour over entire thing
Cook on low for 10-12 hours.
That's it!

I was certain this would be nasty, but it wasn't... it was good, and it was nice to come home late and have the house smelling of dinner and then to only have the one pot to clean as everything was in there. 

Now you may have noticed that it says 3 pounds of meat, and that I said there were two of us eating, which meant a lot of leftovers.  Not only did I used to hate  my crock pot I used to hate leftovers, but they have become my favorite thing in the world as I become more and more exhausted and overwhelmed.  So what to do with all that pork... why turn it into one of my favorite things... the Panini!

A month or two ago my husband went to a highly recommended lunch place and I had a Pork sandwich with garlic sauce... super simple, dry as all get out!  I looked over at my husband while trying to choke it down and said... we could do so much better than this... and did we ever.  Here is your super simple recipe #2.

Pork Panini with Garlic Aioli
from Eileen's little pea brain

Ingredients

Leftover pork from above, shredded and reheated
Fresh ciabatta bread
1/4 cup, plus a good dollop more, of mayonnaise
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
green of your choice
cheese of your choice, I used American because it's what we had but I would go for provolone next time

Method

Cook bread
Cut into servings, trying not to burn yourself like I did
Layer cheese, greens, and pork onto bread
In a small bowl combine remaining ingredients to taste
Throw on the sandwich

Serve with your favorite chips or fries

Coming up... Christmas Baking... hurrah!