Veggie-and-Spice-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Tropical Buckwheat Salad

This installment of Big Flavors from a Mystery Basket turns ingredients sent to me from a Hoosier food blogger into a delicious dinner with Southwest flair.

You know I love a good mystery basket meal challenge. This time around, a few of my food blogger buddies are joining in again (just like last year).

The rules were simple – spend around $20 total on 3 ingredients to send to your randomly assigned partner. Then each person makes a dish using their ingredients, a la Chopped.

This time around, Heather from All Roads Lead to the Kitchen sent me a box full of goodies to try to work into one meal.

She sent Bob’s Red Mill buckwheat groats, Creative Snacks Co. vegetable chips and Clancy’s Fancy Hot Sauce.

I knew that I wanted to try putting the veggie chips into the food processor to make a powder. It worked out beautifully! I then mixed it with some spices to form a flavorful coating for the pork.

The hot sauce had really nice, deep flavor – I added a bit in both the crema and the buckwheat salad. I can’t wait to use it in more dishes!

We really enjoyed the mix of hot and cool in this dish. The mangoes and black beans were perfect together in the buckwheat salad.

I only used 1 pork tenderloin when I made this, but there was plenty of everything else to make this for 2, which is usually how they’re sold, so I wrote the recipe for 2.

This dish has me excited to try unusual ingredient combinations for the spice crust more often. It was so good!

Veggie-and-Spice-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Tropical Buckwheat Salad

• Author: Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen - Ashley Covelli
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 6-8 Servings 1x
• Category: Main Dish
• Method: Stovetop/Oven
• Cuisine: American

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Description

This installment of Big Flavors from a Mystery Basket turns ingredients sent to me from a Hoosier food blogger into a delicious dinner with Southwest flair.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

For Buckwheat Salad:

• 1 cup buckwheat
• 2 cups water
• 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced (about 1 cup)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1/2 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

For Pork:

• 2 pork tenderloins (about 2 pounds total), pat dry and cut into 6 equal portions
• 3 ounces vegetable chips
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1–2 tablespoons water, as needed

For Crema:

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used nonfat)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons mint, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon lime zest
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce

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Instructions

1. For Buckwheat Salad: Place buckwheat in a medium saucepan along with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then cover and lower heat to simmer for 10 minutes, or until tender. Rinse w cold water and drain well. Add black beans, mango, red onion, lime zest, lime juice, salt and hot sauce. Mix well to combine and refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. For Pork: Preheat oven to 375°F. Place vegetable chips in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until ground into a powder. Place on a large plate and add 1 teaspoon salt along with cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika and garlic powder. Mix together thoroughly so the spices are evenly distributed. Roll each piece of pork in the veggie-spice mix, pressing to adhere.
3. Heat oil in a large, oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the pieces of pork tenderloin for a few minutes per side, until nicely browned all over. Transfer the skillet to preheated oven and cook 15-20 minutes, until the internal temperature reaches 145°F. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
4. While pork rests, make the crema. In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, mint, lime zest, lime juice and hot sauce.
5. Slice pork into medallions and serve alongside buckwheat salad with crema drizzled over top.

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Keywords: pork tenderloin, buckwheat, buckwheat salad, tortilla encrusted pork

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Wanna see what everyone else made for this challenge?

• Matt from Nomageddon made Chicharrones Chimichangas
• Julie from Bread Booze Bacon made Beer-Braised Chicken with Coconut Curry Wild Rice
• Ashley from Forking Up made Pecan-crusted chipotle chicken drumettes with cold couscous salad dressed with bacon vinaigrette
• Heather from All Roads Lead to the Kitchen made Chicken, Plaintain and Peanut Stew w/ Pretzel Dumplings
• Sophia from NY Foodgasm made Roasted Beet Hummus Moroccan Flatbread