Ingredients
Units
Scale
Prepare the Roasted Garlic
- 2 full heads of garlic, cut in half
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- Sea salt
For the Roasted Pork Tenderloin
- 1 4-1/2 pound boneless pork tenderloin
- Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb salt-free seasoning (I use this all the time in place of salt that is listed in recipes)
For the Vinaigrette
- Roasted garlic (from above)
- 1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped (this is twice the amount indicated in the recipe)
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar (I reduced this amount to 1/3 cup, it was very potent)
- 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sugar (I used 2 packets of Splenda) this is necessary to take the bite out of the Balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tbsp. water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
For the Roasted Garlic
- Cut the heads of garlic in half cross-wise.
- Place the garlic halves on a sheet of aluminum foil.
- Drizzle them with the olive oil, and sprinkle with the salt.
- Fold the foil up and around the garlic halves, making sure that the garlic stays upright.
- Seal the foil into an airtight package around the garlic halves.
- Roast until the garlic cloves are golden and soft, about 45 minutes (not 60 minutes as indicated or they will turn BROWN).
- Keep the garlic halves in the foil and cool slightly.
For the Pork Tenderloin
- Thirty minutes after the garlic has started roasting, place the pork in a medium, heavy roasting pan.
- Season the tenderloin on all sides (with seasoning of choice).
- Roast the pork along with the garlic until an instant-read meat thermometer reads 150 degrees (slightly warmer than what the original recipes calls for because there was still plenty of pinkish-red sections in the pork), for about 40 more minutes, 70 minutes maximum.
- Remove the roasted pork tenderloin from the oven and form a tent of aluminum foil over the pork.
- Let rest for 15 minutes.
For the Vinaigrette
- Open the garlic packets and squeeze the the roasted garlic cloves into a blender, squeezing the base of each garlic half.
- Add the parsley and balsamic vinegar.
- Pulse until well blended.
- Drizzle or pour the olive oil into the blender and blend well again.
- Add the sugar or sugar substitute, salt, pepper, and two Tbsp. of water.
- Blend until well mixed.
- Drizzle some of the vinaigrette over the pork tenderloin.
- Slice into desired thickness of slices.
- Pass around the remaining vinaigrette in a small ‘gravy’ type dish.