Spring Panzanella & Lemon Pork Tenderloin

I forget that pork chops and tenderloin typically need a juicy marinade or a sauce to serve with it. Might be me overcooking the meat or a poor quality pork at work, but I can't recall ever having pork of this kind without an accompaniment. Luckily a little kitchen fairy sent us a crabapple rosehip jelly and we pulled it out of our emergency jelly stash for this occasion. Dinner was saved. 

Truthfully, the pork was an afterthought. I was looking for something to accompany this bread salad and pork seemed like the right thing to do. Yes, the panzanella stole the show. It's really a crouton salad and if you like garlic-riddled bread, you'll dig panzanella. While my version looks like a K-Mart variety of Heidi Swanson's, I don't believe it tasted like one (check out her pic via the 101 cookbooks link below). 

Spring Panzanella

From: http://www.101cookbooks.com

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 lb loaf of day-old whole wheat bread, cut up into 1 inch chunks
• 1 shallot diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T thyme leaves, pulled from stem
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 bunch of asparagus, chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 2 cup of peas, fresh or frozen
• 4 handfuls of spinach
• 1/4 cup small basil leaves
• Salt as required

Method

Preheat your oven to 350F. In a large bowl, toss the bread chunks well with the shallot, garlic, thyme leaves, oil and salt. Spread the mixture evenly over a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes. When ready, the bread crumbs should be browned and crunchy.

In a cold skillet, add a splash of olive oil and a splash of water and a few pinches of salt. Turn the burner  on high heat. Once the water starts to bubble, add the asparagus and cover for 30 seconds. Add the peas and cover for another 30 seconds. Finally, add the spinach and cover for a few seconds until the spinach starts to wilt.

Put the breadcrumbs in a bowl and toss in the asparagus mixture including the juices. Add the basil leaves and mix well.

Lemon Pork Tenderloin

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb pork tenderloin
• 1 T rosemary leaves, chopped
• 1 T thyme leaves, chopped
• 1 T lemon zest
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 t salt
• 1 t pepper

Method

Combine all ingredients with the exception of the pork into a bag and mix well. Add the pork and ensure it gets completely coated with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least an hour, but overnight is best. Barbecue on medium-high heat for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and tent the loin for 10 minutes. Serve with a citrus chutney or other sauce/jelly.