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    Home » Recipes » Pork Recipes

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

    Modified: Jan 18, 2024 · Published: Jul 18, 2016 by Ashley

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    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).

    A photo posted by Ashley Covelli (@bigflavors) on May 26, 2016 at 9:48am PDT

    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.

    A photo posted by Ashley Covelli (@bigflavors) on Jun 9, 2016 at 5:23pm PDT

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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.

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

    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star No reviews
    • 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.


    Ingredients

    Scale

    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)
    • ¼ cup thinly sliced red onion
    • ½ teaspoon lime zest
    • 1 ½ tablespoons lime juice
    • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
    • ½ 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
    • ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
    • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil
    • 1-2 tablespoons water, as needed

    For Crema:

    • ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (I used nonfat)
    • 1 ½ teaspoons mint, chopped
    • ½ teaspoon lime zest
    • 1 tablespoon lime juice
    • ¼ teaspoon hot sauce

    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.

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @bigflavors on Instagram and hashtag it #cookbigflavors

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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
    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.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sophia Del Gigante

      July 18, 2016 at 1:32 pm

      Wow, this is like SUPER CREATIVE! I love that you made the chips into a powder!! How did it taste??

      Never tried buckwheat definitely need to try that grain for size!!

      Reply
    2. Heather S-G

      July 28, 2016 at 8:17 am

      I love what you did with the ingredients. Turning the chips into a powder was such a good idea. Definitely a delicious sounding meal that I'd love to try!

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Ashley and I’ve been writing about food & recipes here at Big Flavors from a Tiny Kitchen since 2006. I want to help you (yes, you!) gain confidence in the kitchen so you are excited to cook at home for yourself and your loved ones.

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