Herbed Pork Tenderloin with Strawberry Salsa

Pork.
Strawberries.
Papaya.
What? Papaya? I don't know about you all, but I have NEVER cooked a meal with papaya let alone actually bought one!

I have to talk about this papaya. First of all, in the store I bought it at, I only had one option for papaya. I have no idea if more choices exist or not, so I had to go with the one option.

You have to peal a papaya and then, when you cut it open, there are a ton of seeds in the middle. But, I was pleasantly surprised at how good it smelled! Seriously, papaya smells really good!

It was also slimy. Really.

But, combined with strawberries and served over pork? Seriously, you can't go wrong.

Here is the recipe with my modifications to it (because I can't simply follow the recipe!):

Two 3/4-pound pork tenderloins (I used a pork roast and cut into two pieces)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley (I used dried parsley, about 1-2 tablespoons)
1 tablespoon minced sage (again, used dried herbs, 1 tablespoon, because why not?)
1 tablespoon minced rosemary (same, used dried herbs - 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil (I used regular olive oil)
1 pint strawberries, cut into 1/3-inch dice
1 cup diced papaya (6 ounces)
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (I used about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons minced red onion (I used a small whole red onion)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Turn your oven on to 400 degrees...
and take out your pork!

As I stated up in the recipe list, it calls for two pork tenderloins. I had a pork roast and so cut that into two halfs. I think they looked like pork tenderloins. You want to rub about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper all over both pieces of flesh. You can use a little more salt and pepper if you need. I simply sprinkled each piece with S&P and rubbed. BTW, in case I have never brought it up, there is someething very therapeutic about handling dead animal flesh.

Mix up your parsley, sage and rosemary and pat all those good yummy herbs all over your pork:

Let that sit for about 20 minutes or so in the fridge.

Now, for my favorite part! The strawberry salsa. This really turned out so good!

Chop up some strawberries and place into a bowl:

Chop up your papaya and place into the bowl:

Chop up the onion. I picked the tiniest onion and used the whole thing. But, really, it is about how YOU like it. Place into bowl:

The recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of lime juice. I simply believe that 1 lime equals about 1 tablespoon, so cut that lime if that's what you did and squeeze away.

Cut up some cilantro and add to the bowl. I used alot more cilantro than it called for. In my opinion, cilantro MAKES the salsa.

Stir and put into your fridge until the pork is done!

To cook the pork, heat some oil in a pan and cook on medium to medium high heat (depending on how sensitive your stove is!) and brown the meat. It takes about 10-15 minutes to do this.

Then, place the pork into the oven and cook for about 20 minutes or so. It should just barely have any pink in the middle. It will continue cooking once you remove it from the oven.

Slice it up into 1/2 pieces and serve with the salsa on top. Even the teenager ate the meat with the salsa two nights in a row..on his own...without being nagged by his mother.


Enjoy! Would love to hear from anyone who prepares this and what you thought and how you might have changed it!

TTFN