Even though fall doesn’t bring much cool weather down here in Florida, I still love the fall flavors this time of year. This pork tenderloin is flavored with pure maple syrup, sage, thyme, and white balsamic vinegar. The veggies get the same seasoning and are topped with smokey bacon and toasted pecans.

When I’m counseling clients on healthy eating, many are surprised to learn that some cuts of pork and beef are healthier than some cuts of chicken. Lean cuts of pork include the tenderloin, the loin, and the chop. Fattier cuts include pulled pork, ribs, and some of the roasts. Lean cuts of beef include lean ground beef (at least 90% lean and less than 10% fat), strip steak (minus any fatty pieces), and skirt steak or flank steak. Often times, ground turkey, ground chicken, and any poultry with the skin on it will contain more unhealthy fat than the leaner cuts of pork and beef!

Meat cooking tip: it’s best to let your meats sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cooking. This helps prevent the meat from “contracting” when you cook it, which it will do when it is cooked while it is still too cold. Allowing the meat to sit out for a bit will help yield a more tender, less chewy piece of meat. 

You can never go wrong with a platter full of roasted veggies. Try to get a variety of colorful veggies to make the dish more visually appealing and to ensure a wide range of vitamins and minerals in the dish. I used Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and red onion here.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lb pork tenderloin
• 1 lb brussels sprouts
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 red onion
• 2 strips thick cut bacon
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 TB pure maple syrup
• 2 TB white balsamic vinegar
• Cooking spray, olive oil, or coconut oil

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Make the seasoning blend by combining the salt, pepper, sage, and thyme in a small bowl. Divide seasoning blend into 2, rubbing HALF of it on the pork.
2. Cut about 1/4 inch off the stems of the brussels and slice the brussels in half length wise. Chop the potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Chop the onion into 1-inch pieces as well.   Spread the veggies on a baking sheet – you can line the sheet with foil if you want easier clean up. Spray the veggies evenly with cooking spray, or drizzle with about 1 TB of olive oil. Sprinkle the other half of the seasoning mixture evenly over the veggies. Drizzle 1 TB of the maple syrup over the veggies, as well as 1 TB of the white balsamic vinegar. Place pan is center rack of oven and set timer for 20 minutes.
3. While veggies begin to cook, cook the bacon in a pan over medium heat until crisp. Set aside. Sear all 4 sides of the pork in same pan with the bacon grease. This takes about 2 minutes per side. Set aside until veggies have cooked for 20 minutes.
4. When veggies have cooked for 20 minutes, take them out of the oven and stir and flip them. Make space in the middle of the baking sheet and place the pork in there.
5. Drizzle the other 1 TB maple syrup on the pork, as well as the other 1 TB white balsamic vinegar. Put sheet with veggies and pork back into the oven for another 20 minutes.
6. Take pork and veggies out of oven. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes or so before cutting the pork. Chop the bacon and pecans, and then sprinkle them over the veggies. Slice the pork and enjoy!