Spinach and Bacon Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

So I meant to post last night, but in the spirit of absolutely loathing Valentine’s day, we took a social media break. Even as a married couple, the barrage of overshare is a little much for even us. So how’d we spend our Valentine’s Day? Pretty much like any other day. After stopping at home to let the dogs out and change, we headed to CrossFit and then, as it seems customary for our V-Day, we picked up pizza from Gumby’s and put in some time on our freelance projects between episodes of our favorite shows and playing with the pups. Nice and low-key!

Despite our lackadaisical approach to food yesterday, we did make a pretty amazing meal on Monday. We came across some great pork loin over the weekend and decided to try our hand at stuffing and rolling it. We filled it with veggies and bacon and popped it into the oven. It was so easy, I almost feel silly for writing the recipe down.

They were also practically giving broccoli away. It took everything in me not to fill my cart and be that person at the checkout. You know, the one that always causes you to nudge the person next to you and say “what are they going to do with a whole cart of {insert product}.” Fortunately for Neil, I’m only weird enough to take pictures of my broccoli.

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, finely chopped
3 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon coconut oil
4 full cups spinach
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 (3/4 pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
cooking spray

For the glaze:
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoon dried rosemary, crushed
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon pepper

Directions:

1. Make a lengthwise slit about three-fourths of the way through tenderloin; open tenderloin so it lies flat. FLatten to 1/4-in. thickness; set aside.
2. Heat coconut in oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, stirring constantly until onions are tender.
3. Stir in the spinach, bacon, one tablespoon Dijon mustard, salt and black pepper; set aside.
4. Spoon spinach/bacon mixture over open tenderloin, up to 1/2 inch from the edges. Roll, starting with the short side. Tie off with strong string at 1 1/2 inch intervals. Place seam side down in a shallow pan coated with cooking spray.
5. Combine the glaze ingredients, mix well. Spread evenly over tenderloin.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or 145 deg internal meat temp.
7. Remove from oven, let the tenderloin rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

I don’t usually post a lot of raw meat photos, but I think its worth noting that right as we were up to our elbows in raw pork and spinach, we realized we have still yet to buy any legitimate kitchen twine. So we jelly-rolled and tied our pork off with dental floss. I don’t know whether to be embarrassed or proud at our MacGyver-like resourcefulness.

Looks legitimate though doesn’t it?

From Neil: “The bacon, spinach, garlic and onion within the rolled pork really carried a wonderful flavor and fragrance throughout the tenderloin. Cook it to medium and you will not believe you are eating pork! So rich and juicy. Yum!”