Easy Weeknight Dinner

Every Wednesday after work I follow the same routine  - get a snack, fix myself something to drink and check out the weekly food ads.  I am a frugal shopper, but refuse to sacrifice quality or deprive myself of good food, so the food ads are very important to me. 

I stock up on pork tenderloins whenever the price goes below $3/lb.  I love pork tenderloins because they are so versatile and so dang easy to prepare.  All it takes is a good meat thermometer and you're golden. 

My sister got me this one for Christmas 2 years ago and it changed my world. 

One of my favorite weeknight "Go-To Meals" is Raspberry Chipotle Pork Tenderloin.

It's super easy and utilizes several already prepared ingredients. 

Preheat oven to 375 F

After trimming the excess fat and silver skin off of the tenderloins,  season them with whatever spice rub you have on hand.  (Tonight I used Adams Reserve Peppercorn & Garlic Sean-n-Crust, but good old salt and pepper works beautifully too.) 

 I keep several of these in my cabinet at all times and use them on almost everything. 

Heat 1 T of olive oil and 1 T of butter in a skillet or fry pan.  Sear the tenderloins on each side for several minutes, forming a nice 'crust'.  Put them in a roasting pan, pop them in the oven for about 22 - 25 minutes (internal temp should register 140 when you remove them from the oven). 

As soon as you remove them from the oven you'll want to pour a little bit of Raspberry Chipotle Sauce over the tenderloins and tent them with foil.  They need to rest about 10 minutes before carving.

I think everyone and their brother makes a version of this sauce now. 

This just happens to be the one I had in the fridge. 

While the pork is resting, you have plenty of time to do side dishes.  I usually do some sort of whole wheat couscous and a green veggie. 

I love couscous for two reasons:

1. the liquid to couscous ratio is 1:1 *I can never remember what the ratio is for rice*
2. it cooks in 5 minutes 

Tonight's side dishes were Walnut Parmesan Couscous and Walnut Garlic Green Beans. 

For both dishes I toasted the walnuts lightly ahead of time and then later cooked them a little more in some butter and garlic... mmmmm.

From start to finish this dinner takes no more than 35 minutes and most of that is "hands-off" time.  Fresh, tasty food with minimal effort - now that's what I'm talking about.