Open Faced Pork Tenderloin

When I asked Hubs what he wanted for dinner, he said anything but chicken. Pork it is! I agree, we have had enough chicken lately. I decided on a stuffed pork tenderloin, open faced style. In a true stuffed pork tenderloin, you have to tie it together with twine and I just wasn't in the mood to do that. Open faced it is!

I created a stuffing of rice, olives, and spinach to add some much needed nutrients to our dinner. This is a simple stuffing, especially if you take my advice and you use the "boil in a bag" rice. If you want to use regular rice, totally fine, but it will just take a lot longer to cook. If you don't like kalamata olives, you can absolutely substitute black olives or omit them all together. 

I decided to serve our pork with my delicious oven roasted asparagus. It is one of my recipes that I constantly get compliments on. It is easy, nutritious, and full of flavor. You can find that recipe here!

Now, on to the pork! Printable Recipe Here!!

Open Faced Pork Tenderloin

GF/DF

Ingredients:

1 pound pork tenderloin

2 cups orange juice

2 T honey or agave nectar

1 T GF soy sauce

1 1/2 T fresh oregano

1 bag fast cooking rice, or about 1 cup cooked brown rice

1/4 t red pepper flakes

1/4 t salt, plus more for the pork

1, 5 oz package of fresh spinach

1/2 cup kalamata olives 

What to do:

Preheat oven to 375°.

Start by cooking your rice according to package directions. 

Once your rice is cooked, remove from the bag and place back into the saucepan, leaving about 2 tablespoons of the cooking water in the pan.

While your rice is cooking, chop your oregano.

Drain and rinse your olives. Then roughly chop.

Trim any an excess fat off your pork tenderloin. Next, carefully cut a slit down the center of your pork without cutting all the way through creating an open faced pocket. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. 

Once your rice is cooked, add your spinach and cover the saucepan. I know it seems like a lot of spinach, but it will wilt down to nothing. 

Periodically stir the spinach and rice mixture until the spinach is wilted down.

Add in your salt, red pepper flakes, and olives and stir it all together.

Place your pork in a large baking dish and top with your rice stuffing.

In a 2 cup mixing cup, add orange juice, agave nectar, soy sauce, and oregano. 

Pour your orange juice mixture over the pork and cover with aluminum foil. This will help keep the pork nice and moist while cooking.

Bake for about 45 minutes, removing the foil for the last 10 minutes.

Slice and serve!

Thanks Y'all!

-Wise Wife