Buying fresh fruits and vegetables is not always the most practical way of preparing meals, especially if you’re cooking for one, like I am. Even for a full household, fresh ingredients often risk spoiling. You have to consider what’s in season and how fast you can use it before it needs to be tossed.
I always keep Del Monte canned Fruits and Vegetables stocked in my pantry for when I want a quick, home-cooked meal that’s packed with nutrition. That way, I can cook a nice meal at any time confident I am getting similar nutrition to fresh and with no artificial colors or flavors.
Kara and I wanted to come up with a recipe that was simple enough to prepare during a busy work week but also one we would feel good about serving to company.
Oftentimes after a long day of work, I will run errands on my way home or stop and take a yoga class. In other words, I don’t make it home with the time or energy to spend hours in the kitchen. I’m sure there are many people out there in the same boat as me.
We decided on pork tenderloin because it is easy enough to prepare but kind of special at the same time. We pounded our pork tenderloin thin and then butterflied it. Before rolling it up and cooking, we filled it with blue cheese, toasted almonds, dried cranberries and Del Monte Pear Halves in Extra Light Syrup.
We like Del Monte canned Fruits, Vegetables and Tomatoes because they’re grown in the best regions for producing consistently high-quality products, the majority in the United States. We appreciate this as Chicago’s season for growing fresh ingredients locally is not too long.
Adding Del Monte canned Fruits and Vegetables is a no brainer for adding a touch of garden into your home-cooked meal. Only minutes of preparation, but it’s a recipe we all enjoyed and one that we would be proud to serve to family and friends.
Please tell us your thoughts on meals that make you feel good & are good for you. A random commenter will win a $100 Visa gift card!
Rules: -No duplicate comments please. -You may receive 2 total entries by selecting from the following entry methods: (a) Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post. (b) Tweet about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post. (c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post. (d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry. -This giveaway is open to US Residents, age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected. -The Official Rules are available here. -This sweepstakes runs from 11/19/2012 – 12/21/2012.
Visit Del Monte’s “Add Some Garden™” campaign on Facebook for other recipe ideas.
Also, make sure to visit the Del Monte’s brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!
Here’s what you’ll need
Pound the pork tenderloin to thin it out, then butterfly it
Dice up the pears
To the toasted almonds, mix in cranberries and pears
Season with salt and pepper then lay pieces of blue cheese all over the pork tenderloin
Now fill with pears, cranberries and almonds
Now roll the pork tenderloin up tight and add a little bit of the reserves pear juice
Cook and slice into 1-inch pieces. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 pound pork tenderloin
½ cup almonds, sliced
½ cup dried cranberries
½ can Del Monte Pear Halves, diced and juice reserved
¼ cup blue cheese, cut into small chunks
salt and pepper
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butterfly the pork tenderloin then pound until equal thickness throughout. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a small pan, toast the sliced almonds over medium heat. They are done when you can smell them, about 5 minutes. Add in the dried cranberries and diced pears. Mix together and heat through, about 2-3 minutes.
Lay pieces of blue cheese all over the pork tenderloin. Add the almonds, cranberries and pears on top. Starting with a long edge, roll the pork tenderloin up tight and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Spoon a couple tablespoons of reserved pear juice on top of the rolled pork tenderloin. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through. Broil for the last 4-5 minutes so that it is golden brown on top. Let rest before cutting into 1-inch slices.
Source: a Live Love Pasta original
