Asian Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Slaw
*serves 4-6

Admittedly, I’ve been preparing pork tenderloin every other week for dinner. And, yes, I have been using the pre-marinated ones to save a step since I’m cooking every single night, but this past week we made a bodacious Costco order and scored a fair price on two beautiful, un-marinated, pork tenderloins. The part about getting a plain old piece of meat or fish is that you can play with flavors and seasoning, the scary part about that is now the cook has a responsibility to come up with a marinade. And while coming up with a marinade isn’t “hard” it does take some planning or, at the very least, a stocked pantry that they can turn to for inspiration.

While I was enjoying the barbecue and garlic herb pork tenderloins, I was growing tired — I think we were all growing tired of a meat with potatoes and a green. My mind went to Asian flavors because we all enjoy that profile. Sometimes I forget how much soy sauce and sesame oil can change a meal. I kept the marinade relatively simple and had avocado, scallions and ginger on hand, along with precut cabbage (aka slaw), canned pineapple and nuts. We made a quick online order (no drivers here except my dad who is leaving the house less and less) for cilantro and some other items we wanted to have in the house for the week. Alas, Asian marinated pork tenderloin with pineapple slaw was born.

Looking for a way to spice up your pork, chicken or shrimp? This marinade can be easily repurposed for any of these proteins. Don’t have pineapple? Use orange segments or, even, frozen mango. Don’t have slivered almonds or peanuts, use pumpkin seeds or walnuts if you go for a citrus profile. Reinvent and have fun!

I also boiled the marinade to make the base for the actual slaw dressing which really enhanced the flavor of this dish. You can easily skip marinating the pork (though I don’t suggest that with pork — grilling or sauteing shrimp is much more forgiving — pork can really dry out) and dress your meat and slaw together . I’ve always believed a big part of cooking and learning how to command a meal in the kitchen is being able to look at a recipe and say yes or no, maybe I’ll do this instead — skip a step — add on something new. Or follow this as is, make it and then decide how you might modify your meal next time!

Asian Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Pineapple Slaw
*serves 4-6

Ingredients for the Pork Tenderloin Asian Marinade
1 1/2 pounds of pork tenderloin (be sure that the meat you purchase is not already marinated)
6 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 thumb of ginger, grated
1/3 cup of low sodium soy sauce
1/8 cup of sesame oil
1/8 cup of rice vinegar
1/2 cup of pineapple juice (reserved from the canned pineapple you will used in the slaw)
2 tablespoons of honey

—Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
—Begin by very lightly scoring the meat with an X on each side and make the marinade for the pork tenderloin simply by whisking the below ingredients in a small bowl.
—Pour the marinade over the pork tenderloins and allow them to rest/marinate for 1-2 hours
—Remove the marinade from baking dish and into a small stock pot or simply place the pork tenderloins in a —new baking dish and pour the marinade into a small stock pot
—Boil the marinade for 5-10 minutes — this will remove any bacteria from the marinade and concentrate it
—Put the boiled marinade aside as you will use this as the base for your larger salad dressing
—Cook the pork tenderloins for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees and allow to rest

Ingredients for the Pineapple Slaw
2 x 10 oz. bag of tricolor (it’s pretty) coleslaw
1 x 14 oz. can of cubed or fresh pineapple (reserve all juice)
1/3 cup of slivered or crushed almond OR roasted and salted peanut halves
1 whole avocado, cut into cubes