Journal

Schermer at Home: Lindsey Bell

At Home with Lindsey Bell of The Dinner Darling

After years of cooking the same family meals on repeat, Lindsey Bell turned to her social media community to seek fresh ideas and soon realized that many people needed a solution for saving time and money while creating delicious meals for their families. Lindsey soon decided to pivot from a career in corporate sales and marketing to focus full time on launching The Dinner Darling to help make answering the question "what's for dinner?" easier and more enjoyable through her blog and e-newsletter subscription, The Weekly Dish, providing easy recipes, grocery lists, and nutritional information.

Pecans are one of the simplest ways to enhance recipes that may already be in your repertoire, adding flavor, texture and a nutritious boost. Lindsey shares three of her favorite fall dishes - an Apple Pecan Salad, Cinnamon Sugar Pecans, and Maple Pecan Pork Tenderloin - that will surely have your family asking "can we have seconds?"

Apple Pecan Salad

Ingredients:

Salad
3 cups fresh spinach
1 Granny Smith apple, sliced thin
5 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
¼ cup crumbled goat cheese
1 cup Schermer pecan pieces

Vinaigrette
¼ cup olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Pinch of salt

Directions:

In a large bowl, layer spinach, apples, bacon, goat cheese and pecans.
Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together in a small bowl, and pour over the salad.
Toss and serve cold.

Pinterest Apple Pecan Salad Photo

Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

Ingredients:
1 egg white
1 lb pecan halves
1 cup white sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees F, and spray a large baking sheet with nonstick spray. In a large mixing bowl, whisk egg white with 1 tablespoon of water until frothy. Add 1 lb pecan halves to the bowl, carefully mixing to coat with egg mixture. In a separate bowl, whisk 1 cup white sugar with 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. Add the sugar mixture to the pecans and stir well to coat. Pour the pecans onto your baking sheet, and bake the for one hour, stirring once every 20 minutes. Remove, and let cool before serving.

Cinnamon Sugar Pecans

Maple Pecan Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:
2 pork tenderloins, fat trimmed
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper
½ cup maple syrup
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 cup Schermer pecan pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, and spray a large baking dish with non-stick spray.
Season the pork tenderloins with olive oil, salt and pepper and place in your baking dish; bake for 15 minutes.
Meawhile, in a small saucepan, whisk maple syrup and brown sugar. Once smooth, fold in your pecans.
Remove pork from oven, spoon the pecan glaze on top and place back in the oven for 5-10 minutes, or until internal temperature of the pork reaches 145 degrees F.
Remove and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Maple Pecan Pork Tenderloin