Grilled Pork Tenderloin

Setting out for an easy, quick and tasty recipe is difficult. I wanted to grill a pork tenderloin, but the recipes that google found me were overly complex, and required ingredients I would have to pick up. Somehow I stumbled upon an incredibly simple recipe, but I could not find it again, so I won't take credit for being so original here, but the tenderloin did turn out great.

A while back, I gave up on buying pork tenderloins from my local grocery store. Every time I bought one I planned on stuffing it with delicious. When I opened the package, I found that there were actually 3 tenderloin pieces, none of which could be stuffed. Hell, it was tough to even cook them. You could get maybe 4 medallions out of one of those pieces, and the rest were just pork bits. It wasn't until my aunt served us a bbq pork tenderloin that was bought at Costco. It was great, and the tenderloin was truly a tenderloin. So I bought some. For about the same price per pound, you get whole tenderloins about 2" in diameter. The way a tenderloin should be.

The recipe that I found was ridiculously simple: season with salt and pepper, and dash on some Herbs de Provence, add some olive oil, and let it sit out for 30 minutes prior to cooking. So, that is exactly what I did. Once I put it onto a hot grill, the Herbs de Provence became very fragrant. I flipped it probably 4 times every 5 minutes, and it was done. I have a person in the household that is not too keen on any kind of undercooked pork, so the internal temp blew past 170F. I thought it would be way to dry, but actually, after resting 10 minutes, it was very, very juicy.

The changes I would make to this easy recipe would be to add a bit of spice from cayenne and paprika to it. That's it. It is really easy, and if grilling isn't your thing, cooking it in the oven would work great, too. Also, if you have a picky eater that always needs a sauce, a fruit-chipotle bbq sauce would be fine. I think grape would be top notch, but any fruit sauce would be great.

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

1 2lb pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons Herbs de Provence
2 tablespoons good quality olive oil
salt and pepper

Start off by trimming any excess fat from the tenderloin. There wont be a lot, but it makes a difference. Season with salt and pepper, then sprinkle the Herbs de Provence on both sides. You can then toss the tenderloin into a bowl, or, like me, you can just put it in a ziplock bag. Drizzle the olive oil over it, and smoosh it around a bit. Vent the air from the bag, seal, and let sit on the counter for 30 minutes.

Fire up the grill to medium-high heat. Set the tenderloin on, and check it in 5 minutes. Flip it after 5 minutes, or if it starts to blacken too much. Keep flipping it about every 5 minutes or so. After about 20 minutes, stick it with a thermometer and see where its at. 160F and it should be good. Let it rest for a while, depending on the size. I let it go 10 minutes, and then sliced it into medallions, and served over brown rice. Also, just because I had some, I sprinkled a bit of fresh mint on top. It was surprisingly tasty.