Pork Tenderloin with Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

It's the last night of our Paleo challenge!  Wow.  I can't believe it has been about 6 weeks of strictly Paleo meals.  For our last Paleo dinner (of Lent), I wanted to do something sort of fancy and super delicious.  So I went with pork tenderloin, which I had made before and we loved, and stuffed portabellas.  This pork tenderloin is just as it should be- super tender and moist and tasty.  I actually used the same marinade I have used before with pork chops, except I was sure to marinate the meat for 3-4 hours this time for extra flavor.  For the portabellas, I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do, but I bought them at the store, along with some asparagus, and decided to find a recipe that combined the two.  So I used this one, with a few changes to make it Paleo.  Overall, this was a great meal, and healthy of course!  It was a nice final meal before we binge on our non-Paleo favorites tomorrow!  Here is what I did:

Pork Tenderloin with Pan Sauce
(serves 3-4)

• 1 lb pork tenderloin
• 2 T olive oil
• 1 T tamari sauce
• 1/2 T red wine vinegar
• 1/2 T lemon juice
• 1/2 t dry mustard
• 1/2 t garlic powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/4-1/2 c chicken broth

Preparation
About 4-5 hours before you want to serve dinner, combine the marinade ingredients in a plastic Ziploc bag: olive oil, tamari, vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Place the tenderloin in the bag and make sure to get the whole thing coated.  Refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours.  Once it is all marinaded, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Sear the tenderloin (without all the marinade- just the meat itself and whatever juices are on it) on each side for 2-3 minutes or until it is browned up.  Keep the marinade handy and keep the skillet coated in meat remnants!  Place the tenderloin in a baking pan/dish and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165-170 degrees (I use an electronic thermometer).

Once it is cooked through, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for about 5 minutes.  In the meantime, make the sauce.  Use the same skillet and reheat it over medium.  Once it is hot, deglaze the pan by adding the chicken broth and stirring it all around.  Once it starts to bubble, add the rest of the marinade and continue to let it all bubble up.  Cook for 5 minutes or so, until it thickens up.  Slice the tenderloin, and serve by pouring the pan sauce over top of your slices.

Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms
(serves 3-4)

• 3 or 4 large portabella mushrooms (or just the caps)
• olive oil
• 1 c chopped fresh asparagus (about 10 stalks)
• 1/4 c onion or shallots, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 tomato, diced
• salt & pepper
• 1/4 c (or so) almond flour
• parsley flakes

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, or in this case, once you remove the meat, crank up the temperature on the oven to 400 (bake these while you are finishing up the meat).  Carefully gut the gills from mushroom caps and remove stems, then rinse each cap under cold water and pat tops dry with paper towel.  Chop stems and set aside. Brush a bit of the oil over mushroom caps and place oiled sides down on a baking sheet (line it with foil for easy cleanup).  Heat 1 T oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add asparagus, shallots/onion, garlic and chopped mushroom stems. Cook 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are cooked but crisp. Remove from heat and stir in tomato, salt, and pepper.  Spoon mixture into mushroom caps. Sprinkle almond flour and parsley flakes, and drizzle a bit of olive oil on top. Bake 10-12 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Here is what mine looked like right before going into the oven:

So there you have it!  The final meal of our Paleo challenge!  Don't worry- we are not done with Paleo forever. Stay tuned to hear all about what our future holds, and hopefully to get more great new recipes!!