Pork Tenderloin with Polenta and Mushroom Tomato Sauce

At the store the other day I got a copy of the newest Clean Eating magazine. They have a great recipe in there for pork tenderloin that makes two meals.

Ingredients:
2 lbs. pork tenderloin
2 cups polenta
24 oz. jar natural tomato basil pasta sauce
1 lb. mushrooms
oregano
sea salt
pepper






Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray a jelly roll pan with nonstick cooking spray and place the pork tenderloins on it. Season them with oregano, sea salt, and pepper. Put the pan in the oven for 10 minutes.



Meanwhile, slice the mushrooms.



Spray another jelly roll pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spread the mushrooms on the pan and sprinkle with pepper. After the pork has cooked for 10 minutes put the mushrooms in the oven with the pork and roast both for about 20 minutes.



Pour 8 cups of water into a large pot and bring to a boil.



After the water is boiling, pour in the polenta slowly and stir.



Stir the polenta with a long handled wooden spoon until it is cooked, about 10 minutes.



Get the pork out of the oven and let stand for 10 minutes or so.



Heat the pasta sauce until it is warmed through, about 5 minutes.



Add the mushrooms to the sauce and heat through, about 2 minutes.



Slice the pork in order to serve. Only slice one tenderloin.



After serving polenta to everyone's plates pour it in an 8x8 pan for the next dinner.



I served about 1/2 cup of polenta, 1/2 cup or pasta sauce, and a quarter of one of the tenderloins on each plate. The leftovers will be used for a different meal in a few days.



This was delicious comfort food. Everyone except the preschooler loved it, but she doesn't like anything. ;-) (Okay, she did love the banana bread in the previous post!)

Sunday Dinner

So tonight I went with a Mexican/Southwestern type of feel to dinner. I had gotten pork shoulder out and suddenly got a craving for my mom's chile verde. Let me go on record as saying I know (and she knows) it's not real nor authentic chile verde. Nevertheless, it is so delicious and easy I knew I had to make it myself and teach you all how to make it as well.

First, though, let's start with homemade Spanish rice. This needs a little tweaking since it was a bit bland but still I feel a personal victory since it didn't come out of a box!

I put about a tablespoon into a pan.



Drain some stewed tomatoes. Put the juice into a measuring cup.



After the oil has heated up, put a cup and a half of brown rice into the pot.



Stir it and let it heat for a few minutes. Then add the tomatoes.



Stir them around and break up the tomatoes.



Now add the liquid. It should measure about 2 cups. Come to think of it, I think the juicy tomatoes saved my butt since it should have been about 3 cups of liquid total. Anyway, add your liquid.



Stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for about 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, it's time to make the chile verde. Ingredients: 2 lbs. or so pork shoulder, one 14.5 oz. can whole tomatoes, one 4 oz. can green chiles, oregano, garlic powder, one half onion, sliced.



Slice your onions. You can use a whole one of a half onion. We had half so that's what I used.



Cut the pork shoulder into about 1.5" or 2" cubes. You'll want to trim as much of the fat off as possible.



Put it in a pan with the heat on medium-high. Add about 2 tablespoons of oregano.



Next, add about a half tablespoon of garlic powder. Maybe more, maybe less; it depends on taste.



Stir it around so all the pieces have a good amount of oregano and garlic on them.



Meanwhile, drain the tomatoes. Reserve the juice in case you need it later.



Break the tomatoes up with your hands.



Back to the pork, it is time to add the onions.



It was looking a bit dry so I added a little bit of the tomato juice.



Next, I added the tomatoes.



Finally, I added the diced green chiles (undrained).



Stir everything so it's blended, lower the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the pork is cooked. If you have more time, you could definitely let it simmer away for an hour or so I'm sure.



After about 20 minutes or so, this is what the pork looks like.



The Spanish rice is done now. Doesn't it look delicious?



Serve with tortillas, refried beans, and salad. It was a delicious dinner!



The chile verde is just as I remember from my childhood.

Sunday Dinner

I decided to do a traditional Sunday dinner here at our house tonight. We had pork tenderloin with gravy, roasted sweet potatoes, brown rice with raisins, and salad.

The pork tenderloin was done in the slow cooker. I found the recipe at about.com: Southern Food. Here is the recipe:

Honey Mustard Pork Tenderloin
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7 hours
Ingredients:

* 2 pork tenderloins, about 1 pound each
* salt and pepper
* 1 small clove garlic, minced
* 4 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard or country-style
* 2 tablespoons honey
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar
* 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf thyme, crumbled
* 1 tablespoon cornstarch
* 1 tablespoon cold water

Preparation:
Wash and trim the pork and pat dry; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Place pork in the slow cooker. Combine garlic, mustard, honey, brown sugar, vinegar, and thyme; pour over the pork. Turn pork to coat thoroughly. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 9 hours, or on HIGH for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours.

Remove pork to a plate, cover with foil, and keep warm. Pour the juices into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until reduced by about one-third. Combine the cornstarch and cold water; whisk into the reduced juices and cook for 1 minute longer. Serve pork sliced with the thickened juices.

Serves 6

Ingredients:



Sprinkle salt and pepper on the pork tenderloins.





Then, lay them in the slow cooker that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.



Now it's time to mix the ingredients for the sauce. Start with a bit of garlic.



Next, add the brown sugar.



I chose some grainy mustard for this dish. If you don't have any you could definitely substitute dijon.



I also chose apple cider vinegar for this even though I did have balsamic. I just thought the apple cider vinegar would go better with this particular recipe.



Now it is time for the honey.



Finally, add the thyme.



Whisk the sauce ingredients together.



Pour the sauce over the tenderloins.



You'll want to get your hands messy with this next step because the best thing is to turn and coat the tenderloins with the sauce. Then you put the lid on, turn it to low, and let it cook for 7 hours.



After 7 hours have gone by, take it out and let it rest while you make the gravy. Pour the juice into a sauce pan. Add 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water into a glass. Mix it up well with a fork and pour it into the gravy. Let the gravy come to a boil for a couple of minutes or until thickened.





Here is the pork after it has cooked. My only complaint is that it turned out stringy (but tender!) and wasn't easy to cut into medallions.



While the pork is cooking, make the roasted potatoes. Here is the recipe:

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Honey

Serves: 6 servings

4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Put the sweet potatoes into a large bowl. Drizzle the oil, honey, cinnamon, salt and pepper over the potatoes. Roast for 40 minutes in oven or until tender.

Take sweet potatoes out of the oven and transfer them to a serving platter.


Here are the ingredients:



Chop up the sweet potatoes into roughly the same size cubes.



Put them into a bowl and then drizzle with olive oil.



Follow with the honey (remember my tip of measuring out oil before honey?).



Sprinkle with a teaspoon of cinnamon.



Sprinkle with salt and pepper.



Now, transfer to a cookie sheet and make sure they are in a single layer.



Roast them for about 40 minutes, or until they're tender.



Now it's time for the brown rice salad. This was a delicious and kid-friendly way to have brown rice. Here is the recipe:

Savory Brown Rice and Raisins

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup brown rice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup sliced green onion
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Cook rice according to package directions.
Heat olive oil in skillet over medium-high heat.
Add onion and cook stirring occasionally until onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Stir in raisins, green onion and water.
Reduce heat to low.
Cover and cook 5 minutes or until raisins are plump.
Stir in cooked rice.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 6 servings.

I didn't take an ingredients photo of this. Start by sautéing the onion.




Add the raisins and green onion. Also add 1/4 cup water, turn the heat to low, and cook for a few minutes.



Add the brown rice to the skillet. Add salt and pepper and warm the ingredients.



After this you have a great brown rice salad.



And you also have a delicious dinner!