Pork tenderloin is one of the leanest cuts of pork that is both tender and easy to cook. The secret to making it tender is marinating for a couple of hours and cooking on a very high heat, for just 5 minutes. It sounds a bit strange but after it cooks for 5 minutes, you turn off the heat and don’t open the oven for 1 hour. The results: Spectacular! So tender, you hardly need a knife. The marinade creates a wonderful sweet and salty Asian flavor. Each serving has 244 calories and 5 grams of fat. Serve it with my recipes for Garlic Sesame Broccoli Stir Fry Side Dish and Simple to Make and Very Healthy, Pineapple Brown Rice.
1 teaspoon ginger, from a jar or fresh, see shopping tip below
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoons sesame oil or canola oil
Cooking spray, such as olive oil spray
Ingredients for Glaze:
2 tablespoonsreduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoonbrown sugar
Instructions
Place pork in a large plastic bag. In a small bowl, combine the marinade ingredients. Pour marinade into the bag over the pork. Refrigerate for 2 hours, turning occasionally.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Transfer pork to a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil. Pour a little marinade over the pork and discard the rest.
Bake for exactly 5½ minutes per pound. Turn oven OFF and DO NOT open oven door for 1 hour! Remove pork from oven and let rest 5 minutes before slicing. Pork will be perfectly done and very tender.
To make glaze: In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, honey and sugar. Heat in microwave for 20 seconds, just before serving. Drizzle glaze over the top of the pork.
Divide sliced pork among 4 plates.
Notes
Serves 4 (each serving, 4 ounces of pork) Shopping Tip Ginger, from a jar, is sold in the produce section where garlic in the jar, is displayed. It’s fresh, pureed ginger and packaged in a small jar. You can store in the refrigerator and it works great in all recipes that use fresh ginger.Healthy Benefits Pork tenderloin is a very lean meat choice. It’s a good source of B vitamins. It also contains thiamin, magnesium, iron and zinc, riboflavin, niacin and vitamin B-6. When it comes to thiamin, pork tenderloin is one of the best natural sources and the meat contains nearly half of the recommended daily allowance of niacin. Serving TipServe with my recipes for: