Adobo-Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Pineapple Salsa

We had an amazing meal this week end thanks to a recipe I found in Cooking Light's, "Healthy Summer Grilling", cookbook that I purchased recently. The pork tenderloin marinates in a wonderful lime juice and garlic mixture which imparts a great citrus flavor and moistness to the meat. The salsa is a wonderful mix of pineapple and vegetables with a touch of lime. It also calls for crystallized ginger, which I could not find at the store I went to, so I just omitted it. I will try to find this before I make the flavorful meal again. We enjoyed this meal so much that it will be a part of out grilling rotation from now on! If you want to make a memorable meal that has family or guests raving, this would be the one! This pork tenderloin was about 2 pounds and came in a package of two. Trim off any fat and there is a silver membrane around part of it which you can cut off so that the marinade can penetrate the meat better. Slip a sharp knife under the silver part and slice it off. The recipe calls for the meat to be marinated for 1 hour, but I had some interruptions, so it was about 2 1/2 hours. I'll go that long again as the flavor was wonderful. Let's get started ! First, we'll mix up the marinade and throw in the meat. Be sure to use a non reactive pan! Cover and put in fridge.

Fire up your grill! We have a charcoal grill, so I used enough charcoal to grill both the pork and the pineapple at the same time. The recipe called for about 25 minutes grilling time for the meat, but I went longer, as we don't like pork to be very pink. The pineapple cooks quickly, so when it's done you can whip up the salsa while the meat finishes cooking. Lets start:

ADOBO-MARINATED PORK TENDERLOIN with GRILLED PINEAPPLE SALSA

Slightly adapted:

1 cup fresh lime juice

2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. dried oregano

2 tsp. ground cumin

1 1/2 tsp. salt

6 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 pounds of pork tenderloin

2 tsp. olive oil

cooking spray, for the grill

finely chopped green onions and cilantro for garnishing

Combine first 6 ingredients in a 2 quart non reactive baking dish. Trim up the pork and add it to the marinade in the dish. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hr. (I did it for almost 2 1/2 hrs). Fire up the grill. Coat grill rack with oil. Remove the tenderloins from the marinade, insert a meat thermometer, if using, and place pork on grill over the fire. Grill until pork is 160 degrees for slightly pink. I grilled it for about 35 minutes. We don't care for pink pork. And of course, it depends on how hot your fire as to how quickly the meat cooks. When pork is done, remove from the grill and let rest for about 10 minutes. Slice and serve with Grilled Pineapple Salsa. Recipe below.

GRILLED PINEAPPLE SALSA

1 fresh pineapple, peeled and cut into 1 inch slices

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper- I used green, because I had them

1/2 cup diced red onion

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 T. fresh lime juice

1 T.brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. minced crystalized ginger, I didn't use this- will next time

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 drained, canned chipotle chile in adobe sauce, minced-I didn't use this

Lay pineapple slices, and red and yellow peppers on a hot, oiled grill and grill about 3 minutes each side. remove. Dice peppers and pineapple and combine with remaining ingredients. Serve over the pork tenderloin. Eat and be happy!

I served this delicious pork and salsa with grilled zucchini and my Tex-Mex rice. My husband is already wanting this again! It is supposed to serve 8, but not at this house!

This is an exciting week for me, as I'll be having my 100th post! I've learned so much since I started this blog! I'll mention more in my next post so check back again. I so appreciate all of my readers and all the comments you leave. You all are great!