Lentil Salad with Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

1 cup of green du Puy lentils

1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

5 tablespoons of olive oil

9 ounces’ mushrooms, thinly sliced

Zest of 1 lemon

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves

1 pound of pork tenderloin, fat and skin removed

½ cup red wine

4 ounces’ baby spinach, rinsed

16 cherry tomatoes, halved

Salt and pepper

½ lemon juice (optional)

Preparation

In a bowl add the remaining olive oil, the lemon zest, garlic and rosemary. Salt and pepper the mix and add the pork tenderloin. Turn the pork tenderloin to make sure all sides are covered with the mixture.

Fill a large pot of water and add the lentils and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a slow simmer and cook for another 20 minutes, or until the lentils are tender and cooked. Rinse and set aside.

Meanwhile in a large salad bowl, mix the Dijon mustard and the balsamic vinegar. Add the salt and pepper and 4 tablespoons of the olive oil. Whisk the sauce together until smooth. Add the mushroom and the lentils. Mix well and let it rest.

In a skillet over medium heat sear the pork tenderloin until all sides are golden, around 15 minutes. Insert a knife into tenderloin to insure the meat is cooked and no juices are running out. Take it off the heat and place in a cutting board, cover with aluminum foil and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Return the skillet to medium heat, add the red wine and deglaze the skillet. Pour the mixture over the mushroom and the lentils. Mix well. Add the spinach and cherry tomatoes and stir well.

Cut the meat in small rounds and add to the spinach lentil salad bowl.

Sprinkle the ½ lemon juice over the whole dish and serve.

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About

New cooking books have graced my shelves thanks to my dear friends gifting them to me. Yes, I added two wonderful French cooking books to my collection. I know what are you thinking:” Another cookbook? Don’t you have enough?” Well…. If you ask me, we never do. At least, I never do, the more the merrier, but I am funny like that. But then, cooking has this ever-changing life and growth, and that, is the beauty of cooking.

Tonight dinner is an adaption from “the Best recipes in less than 20 minutes of preparation”. And preparation can get the best of all of us sometimes. No one enjoys spending hours preparing a meal on a week night while everyone is going in every directions and your day was filled with activities, that the only thought in your mind is to enjoy the couch and hopefully having the control of the TV remote.

When I prepared this dish I made notes on how to improve the preparation of it and to make it easier to follow and execute, and here is what I am sharing with you.

TIP: To shorten the cooking time of pork tenderloin, I suggest cutting it in half. By doing so, you insure that the middle part that takes the longest to cook, is cooked properly. If you choose not to do so, then start cooking the meat half way thru the cooking time of the lentils.

About the lentils, do not use the regular brown lentils. The consistency is not the same as well as the flavor. All specialty grocery stores now have French green du Puy lentils.

This is an all in one meal with left overs, as we did.

Enjoy!!