An easy dinner: Sweet Chili Pork Tenderloin & Roasted Parmesan Brussels Sprouts

The beginning of the year is a stressful time for us accountants.  There’s year-end close and year-end audits plus T-A-X season.  Spelling it out makes it sound a little less dreary, right?  With all the extra hours clocked at the office, the only recipes I’ll consider right now are ones that take the littlest, teensiest amount of hands-on time possible.

Two of my favorite simple recipes are Sweet Chili Pork Tenderloin and Roasted Parmesan Brussels Sprouts.  The oven does all the work for both recipes, and the hands-on time is pretty minimal.  Ever since we made these wickedly addicting sprouts a few months back, they’ve become a Sunday night ritual.  A pound of them split two ways is barely enough.  There’s talk of making a pound a piece from here on out.

As for the pork, the sweet chili flavor combo comes via a simple brown sugar and chili powder spice rub, and the high temperature and relatively quick cooking time keeps the meat moist.

If you’re lucky enough to have any pork leftover, it makes for one mean sandwich!

Sweet Chili Pork Tenderloin

Serves 4

• 1 pork tenderloin (approx 1.25lbs)
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1.5 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1.5 tbsp brown sugar
• extra virgin olive oil

STEP ONE:  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.  Cover a cookie sheet with foil, and coat with cooking spray.  Remove excess fat, if any, from the tenderloin.  Combine all remaining ingredients (except olive oil) in a large Ziploc bag or large container with lid.  Add the tenderloin to the container, seal, and shake to evenly distribute the spice rub.  Lay the tenderloin onto the cookie sheet, lightly drizzle with olive oil.

STEP TWO:  Cook the tenderloin for 15-20 minutes, flipping the meat half way through, or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees.  Set the meat aside to rest before cutting.

Note:  if you are serving this pork with the sprouts, tent the meat with foil at this point and proceed to the Roasted Parmesan Brussels Sprouts recipe.  Serve with carb of choice.