roasted pork tenderloin

with couscous, pears, and shallots

(Click here for an index of all past WTC recipes! And see the bottom of this newsletter for a printable PDF of this one.)

Every time I cook pork tenderloin, I am transported back to my childhood kitchen — to its beige tiles and light green cabinets, the Talking Heads playing way too loudly from the stereo, and my mom shouting over the noise for my dad to "TURN IT DOWN, TOMMY!”

My mom meal planned before meal planning was cool. When I was a bitchy tween, I thought it was kind of lazy that we ate the same meals over and over again. Now that I’m a wisened mother myself, I realize that this was because they were the only meals that she could count on her three children to actually eat. Also… meal planning is hard! And time consuming. Eating the same thing over and over means less thinking. My poor mother didn’t have a subscription to this newsletter so that someone else could tell her what to cook when she didn’t feel like cooking!

Pork tenderloin marinated in soy sauce and orange juice with a side of green beans was one of mom’s signature meals. We ate it at least once a week throughout my childhood. Grilled (and inevitably overcooked by my father — love you dad) in the summertime, roasted in the wintertime. We probably also ate chicken once a week, and we definitely ate frozen taquitos from Sam’s Club once a week, but I somehow manage to eat both of those today without being momentarily transported back to 1997 on Arbor Road.

Maybe it’s because I cook pork tenderloin so rarely that my own adult memories haven’t managed to creep in and overtake the ones from my youth. I have no idea why I don’t cook it more often — it’s an inexpensive, lean cut of meat, full of nutrients. It is very similar to boneless, skinless chicken breasts in how finicky it can be to cook — go just 5 degrees over and you’re destined for dry mouth.

That’s easily solved, though — use your meat thermometer, people! Do not leave dinner to chance. An inexpensive meat thermometer (I link my favorite in the tools section below) is your best weapon for cooking delicious meat.

What were your family’s go-to meals when you were growing up? Let’s blow up the comments section with a wave of nostalgia!

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enough reminiscing, what are we cooking?

Two weeks ago, I posted a recipe for roasted chicken and pears to Instagram. I called it “Autumn on a Sheet Pan” and it kinda blew up, likely because roasted pears and dates are freaking delicious, and not done often enough. So I channeled that energy here, throwing couscous and arugula into the mix to make it an all-in-one-pot meal.

The result is a couscous pilaf full of juicy roasted pears, sweet tender dates, warm, melty feta cheese, and pops of crisp arugula, served alongside the most perfectly juicy roasted pork tenderloin.

It is delicious.

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my package came with two tenderloins!

Two options: You can either cook them both in this recipe or try a past WTC pork tenderloin recipe.

1) Sheet-Pan Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Fennel and Potatoes: This is a really warm and cozy meal for this time of year!

2) 30-Minute Pork Lettuce Wraps with Coconut Rice: This recipe is definitely in the top 5 of recipes I see you guys repeating over and over again!

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roasted pork tenderloin with couscous, pears, and shallots

Serves 4

Cook time: ~1 hour (roughly 20 minutes active, 40 minutes inactive)

Tools:

• Chef’s knife

• Cutting board

• Oven-safe skillet (preferably cast iron — I used my braiser in these photos)

• Meat thermometer