Island Pork Tenderloin with Arugula Salad - Peanut Butter and Fitness

The recipe for this pork tenderloin is taken from the P90X recipe book. At one point I was really into P90X, did the whole diet and everything. The problem was that I just couldn’t stick to the whole workout/diet for an entire 90 days…and really, who wants to eat the same thing over and over and do the same workouts over and over? I know I don’t. I got really bored with it, plus buying all the ingredients was expensive and took A LOT of time to prepare. I still like to do some of the workouts, especially if I’m not feeling like going to the gym or going outside to run.

There are a few recipes I still make from the book and this used to be one of my favorites. To be honest, I think I either overcooked it this time around or got a not-so-great tenderloin. Normally it’s super juicy and it doesn’t even make it to a plate before I start scarfing it down with my bare hands. Will I still make this again? Yeah, probably. But before I do, I’ll cross my fingers and do a little good luck dance.

Here’s the recipe from the P90X recipe book:

Island Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

16oz lean pork tenderloin

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp olive oil

1/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed (I use the Splenda brown sugar blend)

1/2 tbsp finely chopped fresh garlic

1/2 tbsp Tabasco sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Stir together salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin and cinnamon, then coat pork with spice rub.

3. Heat oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat and brown pork, turning to brown all sides, about 4 minutes.

4. Stir together brown sugar, garlic, and Tabasco and pat onto top of tenderloin. Place pork in a roasting pan and cook in the oven for 45 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the center registers 160 to 165 degrees.

5. Slice thinly.

I served it with an arugula salad with black beans, corn, mango, tomato, avocado and P90X cumin vinaigrette. Here’s the recipe for that:

Ingredients:

2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tbsp orange juice
1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Whisk together until well mixed.

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