...Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Root Vegetables
Everything starts with something. I know that I sound *super* profound (see: cliché) when I say things like that, but I honestly mean, everything starts with something that doesn't necessarily seem related, but often ends up being because of something else. This meal started with a baking dish. Not just ANY pan, but a GLORIOUS, large, red, oval, Le Creuset gratin dish. That I found while shopping with my mother at Marshall's for half price. And I mean actual half-price, according to the internet, and we all know how accurate the internet is for telling you how much things cost. So I found this incredible dish; but the thing is, right now it's just two humans at my house, so the large oval is almost too large for things like scalloped potatoes, or even ratatouille, unless I'm inviting people over, which believe me will totally happen, but in the meanwhile I really wanted to break in my new dish, so I had to come up with something to make. And so, I opened my freezer, found a 1lb pork tenderloin and decided it was time for a root-veg roast with a tenderloin. And so, Monday night's dinner was born.
I was super proud of myself. Not only did I remember to pull the pork out on Sunday to defrost, but I also managed to prepare my shopping list to take care of early Monday before I started working in the afternoon (for now I have lots of free time, which is great, but soon these posts may be way less impressive when I can only throw together things at the last minute late on weeknights). Anyway, so I had my pork defrosting, I had a vision of a pan full of delicious roasty vegetables, and then I thought "OOOOOOOOO! I can make some chimichurri to go with everything" (Now to be fair this wasn't exactly a completely original thought. I recently saw a recipe for roasted potatoes tossed with chimichurri so....I stole that idea and ran with it).
Now, to complicate matters, I do not like cilantro. I am what is sometimes described as a "supertaster" (and I take great pride in knowing that my beloved Julia Child was also one). This means that sometimes when I eat a particularly earthy food or strong flavor I can easily be overwhelmed by that taste. Cilantro is the number one culprit. I also have a hard time with things like beets, and truffles (although I have taught myself to appreciate truffles in small doses as any good foodie should...truffle oil french fries anyone?) BUT one usually makes chimichurri with cilantro and parsley, so I knew I'd need to adapt it. I went to my friends at Pinterest and searched for some recipes for inspiration. Hooray! I found at least 2 other people who made it sans cilantro, so feeling justified with my decision to leave it out all together I carried on.
The next step was to source my vegetables. Now, if I was really impressive I would have grown these things myself. But I'm just not that impressive. Sorry. Instead I went to my local Co-Op market and found EVERYTHING organic and super fresh looking, and budget friendly! I decided on a butternut squash, some Brussels sprouts from the bulk bin, some carrots, a large parsnip, a few fingerling potatoes, and a red onion. I picked up parsley and green onions too. Now here's the really impressive part. I came home, AND PREPARED EVERYTHING. It was a banner day, I tell you what.
I started by marinating the pork in red wine vinegar (because I'd be using the same in my chimichurri later) and garlic, because, well it's garlic. Added a little red chili flakes, some dried and crushed fennel seeds and lots of salt and pepper. I also added some olive oil. Then I peeled, chopped and stored all my veggies. I only used half the butternut but diced it all, freezing half in a zip-top bag for later. Then, I made my chimichurri in the food processor (thank heavens for those!) and put it in a container to sit in the fridge and continue to get amazing. I was so excited to get home later after work and gym, simply preheat my oven and put these beautiful things together. I ended up roasting it all at 400ºF - I put in the veggies (tossed with a little olive oil and salt & pepper) first for about 10 minutes (could have done 15) then added the pork. It took about 40 min to cook all the way to a delicious medium doneness. If I had more forethought I might have seared the tenderloin first for some color, but color doesn't matter too much when your garlic turns blue. (I'm not even kidding, apparently its a known but not well understood phenomenon that happens sometimes when garlic is exposed to certain acids, like red wine vinegar for example...SCIENCE! It's okay though, I had Nicky look it up online to make sure it didn't kill us, and I'm still here to write this, so I'm going to say the internet was right this time).
We had to (impatiently) wait for the meat to rest about 7-10 minutes before slicing it, then plating with the veggies and spooning on some of the chimichurri. I like to think the impatience was solely due to the amazing smells and sights, but it also might have had to do with the fact that it was 8:30pm on a weeknight. Then, the devouring happened. It got a thumbs up from Nicky (and by thumbs up, I mean he ate seconds, so I take that as a win). And I nearly forgot to take a picture of the chimichurri up close, but thankfully he didn't quite eat it all, so I snapped one this morning. Overall it was really good. The meat and veggies with common sauce and hints of common flavors really worked well, and besides some chopping it was pretty low on the difficulty of prep scale.
So there you go. That was Monday's dinner. And I haven't cooked since (which is atypical, but it is also just one of those weeks). Not bad something that Auntie Matter Makes...
Below you can find a basic outline of what I did. Use these "recipes" with a grain of salt (or two or three), and ALWAYS taste things to make sure they work for you.
MARINATED PORK TENDERLOIN (serves 2-3 hungry people)
- 1 pork tenderloin (about 1lb)
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/8 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3-4 peeled & smashed garlic cloves
- 1-2 tsp. red chili flakes (depending on spice preferences)
- 1 tsp. dried fennel seed, crushed with flat side of knife (or with a pestle if you're cool and have one of those)
- 1.5 tsp salt (I generally use Kosher for pretty much everything)
- 1 tsp black pepper
Pour all ingredients into a large zip-top bag over the pork, seal (without air) and refrigerate until cooking. I marinated mine about 6 hours, flipping after a few hours, but you probably don't need to do that. It probably would be fine after 45 minutes, or up to a day, but then again, don't quote me on that.
ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES
Choose things you like. Obviously if you hate parsnips, don't use them. But the point is make it colorful, and flavorful, and choose things that like each other (and cook similarly). I'd avoid summer squashes, but feel free to use any variety of hard squash, sweet potato, roots like parsnips, celeriac or even beets. Preheat oven to 400º
I was super proud of myself. Not only did I remember to pull the pork out on Sunday to defrost, but I also managed to prepare my shopping list to take care of early Monday before I started working in the afternoon (for now I have lots of free time, which is great, but soon these posts may be way less impressive when I can only throw together things at the last minute late on weeknights). Anyway, so I had my pork defrosting, I had a vision of a pan full of delicious roasty vegetables, and then I thought "OOOOOOOOO! I can make some chimichurri to go with everything" (Now to be fair this wasn't exactly a completely original thought. I recently saw a recipe for roasted potatoes tossed with chimichurri so....I stole that idea and ran with it).
Now, to complicate matters, I do not like cilantro. I am what is sometimes described as a "supertaster" (and I take great pride in knowing that my beloved Julia Child was also one). This means that sometimes when I eat a particularly earthy food or strong flavor I can easily be overwhelmed by that taste. Cilantro is the number one culprit. I also have a hard time with things like beets, and truffles (although I have taught myself to appreciate truffles in small doses as any good foodie should...truffle oil french fries anyone?) BUT one usually makes chimichurri with cilantro and parsley, so I knew I'd need to adapt it. I went to my friends at Pinterest and searched for some recipes for inspiration. Hooray! I found at least 2 other people who made it sans cilantro, so feeling justified with my decision to leave it out all together I carried on.
The next step was to source my vegetables. Now, if I was really impressive I would have grown these things myself. But I'm just not that impressive. Sorry. Instead I went to my local Co-Op market and found EVERYTHING organic and super fresh looking, and budget friendly! I decided on a butternut squash, some Brussels sprouts from the bulk bin, some carrots, a large parsnip, a few fingerling potatoes, and a red onion. I picked up parsley and green onions too. Now here's the really impressive part. I came home, AND PREPARED EVERYTHING. It was a banner day, I tell you what.
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| LOOK AT THESE GLORIOUS VEGETABLES! |
We had to (impatiently) wait for the meat to rest about 7-10 minutes before slicing it, then plating with the veggies and spooning on some of the chimichurri. I like to think the impatience was solely due to the amazing smells and sights, but it also might have had to do with the fact that it was 8:30pm on a weeknight. Then, the devouring happened. It got a thumbs up from Nicky (and by thumbs up, I mean he ate seconds, so I take that as a win). And I nearly forgot to take a picture of the chimichurri up close, but thankfully he didn't quite eat it all, so I snapped one this morning. Overall it was really good. The meat and veggies with common sauce and hints of common flavors really worked well, and besides some chopping it was pretty low on the difficulty of prep scale.
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| Waiting...everyone is just waiting. Waiting for the pork to rest... |
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| Ok, so my plating could use some work, but DAMN don't you wanna eat that? |
✧✧✧
MARINATED PORK TENDERLOIN (serves 2-3 hungry people)
- 1 pork tenderloin (about 1lb)
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/8 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3-4 peeled & smashed garlic cloves
- 1-2 tsp. red chili flakes (depending on spice preferences)
- 1 tsp. dried fennel seed, crushed with flat side of knife (or with a pestle if you're cool and have one of those)
- 1.5 tsp salt (I generally use Kosher for pretty much everything)
- 1 tsp black pepper
Pour all ingredients into a large zip-top bag over the pork, seal (without air) and refrigerate until cooking. I marinated mine about 6 hours, flipping after a few hours, but you probably don't need to do that. It probably would be fine after 45 minutes, or up to a day, but then again, don't quote me on that.
ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES
Choose things you like. Obviously if you hate parsnips, don't use them. But the point is make it colorful, and flavorful, and choose things that like each other (and cook similarly). I'd avoid summer squashes, but feel free to use any variety of hard squash, sweet potato, roots like parsnips, celeriac or even beets. Preheat oven to 400º
- Mix of about 3 cups diced roots (butternut, carrots, parsnips)
- 1 cup washed/halved Brussels sprouts
- 1 onion diced (I used a half red and half yellow)
- 3-4 fingerling potatoes, halved (and quartered if larger) for added fun and texture
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Toss vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread as evenly as you can on the bottom of the dish. Starting with the vegetables, roast for about 20 min. Then stir vegetables before placing the pork tenderloin on top and returning to the oven for 35-55 minutes (depending on size of roast and preferred doneness). Ours took about 45 minutes with 1lb of meat. Check both vegetables and meat. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before removing the pork and slicing it. Serve with chimichurri.
CHIMICHURRI - Sans Cilantro
In a food processor combine all ingredients with pulse function.
- 1 cup parsley leaves (pretty dense 1 cup, I used about 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, stems removed)
- 3 green onions roughly chopped (whites and greens)
- 3-4 large cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes (based on spice preference)
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Now, I fully intended to add lemon or lime juice as in called for in most recipes but I simply forgot. And based on Nick's spooning of the chimichurri I don't think it was really missed. But as I do with basically everything I make, play with it a little to make it your own. Or follow my directions exactly. You do you.
- 1 cup washed/halved Brussels sprouts
- 1 onion diced (I used a half red and half yellow)
- 3-4 fingerling potatoes, halved (and quartered if larger) for added fun and texture
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 1-2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Toss vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread as evenly as you can on the bottom of the dish. Starting with the vegetables, roast for about 20 min. Then stir vegetables before placing the pork tenderloin on top and returning to the oven for 35-55 minutes (depending on size of roast and preferred doneness). Ours took about 45 minutes with 1lb of meat. Check both vegetables and meat. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before removing the pork and slicing it. Serve with chimichurri.
CHIMICHURRI - Sans Cilantro
In a food processor combine all ingredients with pulse function.
- 1 cup parsley leaves (pretty dense 1 cup, I used about 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, stems removed)
- 3 green onions roughly chopped (whites and greens)
- 3-4 large cloves of garlic, peeled
- 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes (based on spice preference)
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Now, I fully intended to add lemon or lime juice as in called for in most recipes but I simply forgot. And based on Nick's spooning of the chimichurri I don't think it was really missed. But as I do with basically everything I make, play with it a little to make it your own. Or follow my directions exactly. You do you.
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| Glamour Shot of the Chimichurri |
And I was not invited because??? ;)
ReplyDeleteCannot wait to try this recipe!
ReplyDeleteIs Chimichurri like a mexican version of pesto? I am so confused about how it worked with your meal! Other than that, the entire dish looked amazing!
ReplyDeleteChimichurri originates from South America (Argentina/Uruguay) and I've always thought of it a little like a pesto, but there's no nuts or cheese in it - you could also think of it as an herb salsa of sorts as it typically has some heat. It's most often served with meat dishes, but I found it a fabulous addition to the vegetables.
Delete