Pork Tenderloin Chopped Salad

I am summer stupid.

This, is the point where there is so much ceaseless noise and chaos around me that I can no longer put together rational and logical thoughts.  I am scrambled and discombobulated.

Summer stupid.

As much as I am tired, worn out, out of ideas, unable to form thoughts, tired of being touched and hearing my name, and I can’t even remember what my hair looks like when I actually do it…I’m trying to savor the moments.

I don’t want to wish away the days with my children…especially when just two short months ago I was wishing for MORE time with them.  Oh my restless, never satisfied soul.

So despite my summer stupidity, I’m going to attempt to guide you in getting dinner on the table.

I can’t get enough of salads in the summer. After a long day of entertaining and wearing out children, throwing some veggies in a bowl, grilling some protein and plopping it all on the table seem realistic and plausible.

This salad has been one of my recent favorites due to its change of pace, and heartiness. Plus it’s substantial enough to have for guests on the weekend. Especially if you serve it with bread. There’s always bread at my house. It keeps the natives filled…no easy task.  Boy mom probs.

I adore pork tenderloin.  It’s simple and versatile, cooks easily and looks pretty after being cut.  I usually marinate it, because it soaks up flavor, but for this, I opted for just a rub.

I usually like my tenderloin about medium well, but the night I was cooking this, I was doing so on a charcoal grill.  And it started pouring.  My lack of desire to head out into the torrential rain, and less heat than I wanted from the coals landed this closer to well done than I would have hoped.

Besides adding the rub, I also soaked some applewood chips in water for an hour or so.  I wrapped them in aluminum foil and poked some holes in it, and threw it on the grill just before I put the meat on.  This gave a lovely smokiness to the tenderloin.

I’ve always used touch to tell how done my meat was.  This is a great illustration on how to do that.  After you take meat off, always, ALWAYS let it rest.  If you cut it right away all the juices will run out, where when it rests it reabsorbs a lot of those juices, in turn making the meat juicier.  Tenderloin being on the smaller side, 5 minutes should suffice.

Pork Tenderloin:

For the rub: Combine a 1/2 tsp of the following: salt, cumin, paprika, brown sugar, ancho chili powder,

and 1/4 tsp of cracked black pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika.

Rub the rub into the tenderloin and let it sit for a minute while you get your grill ready.  Place tenderloin over

medium high heat and cook for about 25 minutes, rotating throughout cooking process.

Let it rest, the slice at an angle into 1-2 inch slices.

Salad:

Lettuce (red leaf, green leaf, romaine, butter, spinach, and field greens and would do wonderfully)

1 medium chopped tomato

1 small chopped cucumber

3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used colby jack, but cheddar, monterey jack, and others would all work fine.  Whatever you have on hand)

1 can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed

3 strips of applewood bacon, cut into pieces, sautéed until crisp then drained

Tear up your lettuce of choice and pile it onto a big plate or in a big bowl.  I used one large head of lettuce for this salad, which fed 5.  Top with cheese and your veggies (you could add anything here, broccoli, corn, carrots, squash…whatever you have on hand!).  Sprinkle on black eyed peas and bacon.  I served this with ranch dressing I purchased from a local restaurant.  You could of course make your own, or I think a white wine vinaigrette would pair nicely as well (dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, olive oil, shake).

This salad can be put on the table in just over half an hour, and doesn’t heat up the house…my perfect kind of summer meal!  Especially in the midst of my summer stupor that has set in.  Despite lack of brain power, this meal can be accomplished even while operating on reserves.

And school starts in just over a week.  So buck up, push through, and try to enjoy the last week instead of wishing it away (preaching to myself).

Kate