Cuban Pork Tenderloin and Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

July is such a busy month for us. I think we will actually be in town for 17 out of the 31 days and we have events/dinners a few of those days we are in town. So, I won’t be doing a whole lot of cooking this month. In fact, I am trying to cook from the freezer/pantry with *maybe* a trip or two to the grocery store for a little fresh produce. So, I don’t expect the blog to be updated too frequently, unfortunately.

Tonight, we had grilled Cuban-flavored pork tenderloin with some stuffed portabello mushrooms. Really tasty, and healthy to boot!

This is the first time I have grilled pork tenderloin. Why have I never done this before? Typically I sear and roast or sometimes cook medallions on the stove. The grilling gave this a nice crust and the pork was incredibly tender. I’m definitely going to do this a lot more frequently.

Cuban Marinade (for 1 tenderloin, about 1 lb.)

1/4 cup orange juice (about 1 orange)
2 Tbsp lime juice (about 1 lime)
3 Tbsp. canola or olive oil
2 bay leaves
3-4 garlic cloves, smashed
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients and pour into a resealable bag with the pork tenderloin. Marinate several hours.

Grill tenderloin, basting with the marinade as you grill, until internal temperature reaches 140.

Set aside to rest for 7-10 minutes, underneath an aluminum foil tent. Slice.

To accompany the pork, I decided to make poblano and cheddar stuffed portobello mushrooms from Food and Wine. These turned out great. My portobellos were definitely smaller than 6 oz. (I weighed them. Have I mentioned I LOVE my kitchen scale? If not, let me just say here that I love the convenience of a kitchen scale) so I decided to decrease the filling a little. I kind of wish I hadn’t, so if your mushrooms are 6 oz. or so, I would suggest maybe increasing the filling slightly. I used red poblanos instead of green and added a garlic clove to the onion/spinach mixture. Also, to lighten them up, I used my Misto filled with olive oil to spray the portobellos rather than brushing them with oil. Almost a tablespoon of oil per mushroom is overkill otherwise (well, if you are trying not to eat too many calories, that is).

Poblanos have a great flavor and are not very hot. They are earthy and go so well with the portobellos, also earthy. These actually seem like they would be a good vegetarian meal option (especially if you do find the larger ‘shrooms) since the portobellos are meaty, there is a carb and there is cheese 🙂