Last night’s dinner was a Pork Tenderloin Nectarine Bowl that began as a grilled fish bowl and would have continued on that path if I’d added fish to the grocery list….flexibility is key in making dinner at my house.
I made a wild rice blend earlier in the day with half apple juice and half water…I knew I was going to use it cold for the bowl so making it earlier reduced dinner prep time. I cook the rice in a fabulous little crock that I found at a pottery display in Beckley, West Virginia. Two cups of liquid and one cup of any type of rice…even the (yucky, in my opinion)mixes that Hubby enjoys…..it’s perfect every time. I have a rice cooker and used it for years but with some of the red or mahogany rice blends that I frequently use the mess from the escaping steam was horrid. There’s no mess with my little crock in the oven…perfect. Once the rice finished cooking, I tossed in a few dried cherries…because they’re great with the cold wild rice.
While the tenderloin was cooking, I made a relish of cucumber, red onion, and the most fabulous white nectarines from Costco…with a little bit of cilantro(which I love) and lime juice.
The entire dinner took about 25 minutes to make…had whole grains, fresh produce, and lean protein. Healthy…check, delicious…check,check.
- 1 1 pound pork tenderloin, sliced into 1 inch rounds
- ¼ cup Yoshida sauce (or your marinade of choice)
- 2 ripe white nectarines, cut into 1 inch pieces
- ½ English cucumber, seeded and cut into ½ pieces
- ¼ small red onion, chopped
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- ½ lime
- 1 cup wild rice blend
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup unsweetened apple juice
- ½ cup dried cherries.
- Cook the rice according to package directions, substituting the apple juice for half of the water.
- Add the dried cherries to the cooked rice, cover, and set aside.
- Place the tenderloin rounds in a ziploc bag and add the marinade, and allow to rest at least 30 minutes.
- Heat a griddle pan (it creates the lines on the meat)and sear the tenderloin for 1-2 minutes on each side, lower the heat and cook for about 5 more minutes.
- While the meat cooks, chop the nectarines, cucumbers, and onion and combine in a bowl.
- Toss the fruit/veggie combination with the cilantro and a little lime juice. Salt and pepper to taste.
- For each serving, spoon some of the rice mixture in a bowl and add two slices of the pork.
- Top with the nectarine, cucumber, onion mixture and squeeze a little more lime juice over the bowl.
- Enjoy!