Fall Five-Spice Pork Tenderloin

I’m a big fan of pork tenderloin. It’s healthy, lean, and packed with flavor. You really don’t have to do much to it to make it fantastic. Case in point–this simple rub. Just mix it up, wrap it up, and let it hang out in the fridge until you’re ready to cook it up. It really couldn’t get much simpler…or tastier!

I served the tenderloin with acorn squash stuffed with autumn fruit compote. It was a fantastic, healthy, and filling fall meal!

Fall Five-Spice Pork Tenderloin
an “Apple a Day” original

Ingredients: 1 1/2 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder 3/4 tsp. dried sage 1/2 tsp. dried thyme 1/2 tsp. dried mustard powder 1/2 tsp. salt 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. Cayenne pepper freshly-ground black pepper, to taste 1 to 1/2 lb. pork tenderloin, trimmed 3 TBSP olive oil, divided2 cloves garlic, minced Directions: 1. Mix five-spice powder, sage, thyme, mustard, salt, Cayenne, and black pepper together in a small bowl. 2. Rub spice mixture over entire outside of the tenderloin. Wrap in plastic wrap in place in the refrigerator for at least one hour, up to overnight. 3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

4. Over medium-high heat, warm 2 TBSP oil in a deep, oven-proof saute pan. Add garlic and heat until fragrant. 5. Add the tenderloin to the pan. Sear each side until well browned, about seven minutes. Add additional TBSP of oil during coking, if necessary.6. Place tenderloin in oven and cook until center reaches 165 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes. (I like my pork medium well and found it to perfect at about 27 minutes.) Remove from the oven and let rest, in the pan, for five minutes before slicing. One year ago: spiced molasses cookies