For about a month now, I have had a stock pile of pomegranate juice in the closet and pork tenderloin in the freezer. Just a couple days ago, I posted a recipe for a pomegranate reduction sauce, and while it was good, it needed a bit of alteration. This recipe includes both marinated pork tenderloin (for the Carnivore) and marinated tofu cubes (for the vegetarian). It provides ample sides and veggies for a complete meal for both.
Roasted Pork and Vegetables, sautéed tofu
1 large fennel bulb, top removed, cored, and cut into slices (fronds set aside)
1 large red onion, sliced
2 large red apples, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-1.5 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed
1 container tofu, cubed
1 tablespoon butter
1.5 cups cooked rice, cooked according to package
Add vegetable pan to oven on lower rack and cook for 10 minutes.
While cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat with butter. Remove pork from marinade (recipe follows below), pat dry. Brown pork tenderloin on bottom and top for about 2 minutes each. Briefly brown sides and place in a second roasting pan.Remove pork from oven and let rest on cutting board 5-7 minutes. Slice, serve with roasted vegetables, top with pomegranate sauce (recipe follows below) and with rice or another starch as desired.
Pomegranate Marinade
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups pomegranate juice
1 teaspoon pink peppercorns
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dry parsley
Pinch salt
Pinch black pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
Marinate pork and tofu separately in half the marinade in a bag or bowl for 2 hours (or while you are at work).
Pomegranate sauce
Ingredients
¾ cup pomegranate sauce
1 teaspoon pink peppercorns
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 small shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons soy sauce
Pinch salt and pepper
Add ingredients to a small sauce pan/pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer over medium heat until the sauce is reduced by half, or a bit more. Serve over pork and roasted vegetables.
Oooh. WANT. I love any dish that includes pork & fennel. Last summer, I ate a shaved fennel salad every day for lunch for 3 weeks. Is that wrong?
Also, I really like the idea of using pomegranate in sauces, but always worry that it'll be too sweet – this looks great, though.
Thanks. Ive never really had much raw fennel, i should try a shaved fennel salad with GOAT CHEESE.
Thanks. When you add the balsamic and pink peppercorns, it and then reduce it, it really cuts down on the sweetness factor. It pairs really nicely with the fennel and apple.
This sounds amazing and so nice to see a recipe posted for meat eaters and us veggies! I just got some Himalayan pink salt and organic peppercorns from Sustainable Sourcing https://secure.sustainablesourcing.com and I think I'll try it out them this recipe. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks. I'll have plenty more where that came from! pink salt sounds pretty awesome, what is the difference in flavor
Love the continuation of the pomegranate. Is that brown rice you used? Looks great.