Pork tenderloin is rubbed with a flavorful mixture of brown sugar, garlic, orange zest and a few Cuban-esque spices. The pork is quickly seared and nestled alongside are sweet potatoes with red onion that has been quickly marinated with olive oil, orange juice and rum! The aroma of this dish, as it was roasting was enough to make me really hungry. Best of all, it’s a healthy dish. Rum is optional, but for me it was mandatory!
I belong to the “I-Own-Too-Many-Cookbook-Magazines Club.” Over the years, I have bought those handy-dandy magazine storage boxes where I have filed (in chronological order) back issues of my favorite magazines.
An Apple iPad seemed like a logical organization tool, since I could download cookbooks and magazines. I cancelled my paper magazine subscriptions and switched to digital magazines. Know what? I’m loving it.
Once I downloaded my first digital version of my favorite cooking magazines, I was in awe at how beautiful the digital photos looked! The Jan/Feb 2014 issue of Cuisine at Home was loaded with quite a few recipes that I loved. I bookmarked several of them (another useful feature of digital magazines).
Making authentic Cuban pork is on my bucket list, but this quick version seemed like a good place to start– especially since I’m always looking for easy week night dinners.
For Cuban flavors, brown sugar, orange zest, a paste of fresh garlic and salt, cumin, coriander and light RUM is mixed together. Yum! (If you don’t want to add the rum, use a little chicken stock.) This is rubbed all over the pork tenderloin and set aside, while preparing the vegetables.
Sweet potatoes are a staple in our home. I love them roasted, steamed or mashed. Cube 2 peeled sweet potatoes, and cut up one large red onion, into wedges.
Next, drizzle with olive oil, fresh orange juice, cumin, coriander– and a little more light rum, for good measure. Toss to coat evenly. Preheat the oven to 475F and heat a cast-iron skillet with a little olive oil on medium-high heat.
Please pardon the poor lighting, but the sun has already gone down and I’m photographing with artificial light– not my favorite way, but its Winter and we eat dinner about 6:00pm. Anyway, the pork is seared to a golden brown…
over, for fear of trichinosis. If you still don’t trust that, cook it to well done. I won’t judge, if you don’t!
TASTING NOTES: From start to finish, this dinner was on the table in 45 minutes. When I think of Cuban food, I associate cilantro and lime with it. I ended up adding a little lime juice over the pork and veggies, and I liked the brightness of it. I wish I had thought to garnish the sweet potatoes with a little fresh cilantro , and I will do that next time. The pork was juicy, and the seasonings a great combination. I loved the caramelization from the brown sugar, and the cumin wasn’t overpowering. I really couldn’t taste the rum, which can be a good thing. After all, the alcohol has burned off in the oven. I wouldn’t go as far as saying this dish is the same as a more traditional Cuban pork, because the citrus and rum doesn’t have a lot of time to marinate– but it was really good. Pork and sweet potatoes are a perfect pairing. So are Cuban Black Beans. I made a quick version with “Kicked Up” canned black beans
Quick Cuban Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Onion
Equipment
- You will need an oven-proof skillet; I use my cast-iron skillet
Ingredients
PORK MASH:
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon light rum optional
- Zest of 1 orange minced
- 1/2 teaspoon each ground cumin and coriander
- 1 pork tenderloin 1 1/4-pounds trimmed and seasoned with salt & black pepper
VEGETABLES
- 2 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 1 tablespoon each light rum and fresh orange juice
- 1/2 teaspoon each salt pepper and cumin
- 1 pound sweet potatoes peeled and evenly cubed (about 2 large sweet potatoes)
- 1 large red onion halved and each half cut into 6 wedges
- Fresh cilantro chopped, optional garnish
- Fresh lime wedges optional garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 475°F.
- You will need an oven-proof skillet; I use my cast-iron skillet
Pork:
- Mash garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt to a paste.
- Add brown sugar, 1 tablespoon rum, zest, and 1/2 teaspoon each cumin and coriander; rub into pork.
Vegetables:
- Combine 1 tablespoon oil, the rum and orange juice and toss with the salt, pepper and cumin.
- Toss with the sweet potatoes and onion. Set aside. (NOTE: Don't cut the potatoes too large, so they cook on time.)
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a 10-inch cast iron skillet (if you don’t own one, use a heavy bottomed oven proof skillet) over medium high.
- Sear pork on one side until browned.
- Flip the pork and arrange the sweet potatoes and onion around it.
- Transfer the skillet to the oven and cook until an instant read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 145F-150°F and sweet potatoes are fork-tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
- If desired, garnish the vegetables with some fresh cilantro.
- Let pork rest, then slice and serve.
Notes
I have an iPad and yet I STILL get magazine subscriptions. oy, I really should switch over!! What a great meal.
I have pile of those magazines that I never use but hate to toss out. I need to go the e-route as well. We love Cuban sandwiches but have not had a recipe for the pork and this sounds like a very good one. Your whole meal looks delicious and meat looks perfectly cooked.
I have boxes of magazines stashed in my closet that I just can't seem to get rid of. I go through them every so often, but I'm getting tired of them taking up space. I've started storing new recipes I want to save on my ipad. That should help a little bit. Your pork roast looks delicious, Debby.
Yum, yum, yum!! I love pork tenderloin and sweet potatoes and they go so well together. I love everything about this recipe, Debby! I can so relate to the cooking magazine dilemma! I have a huge cabinet full of magazines and cookbooks. BTW, thanks SO much for your kind comment on my blog. Check out my response when you get a minute.
We had this last night and really enjoyed it! It was a little out of my spice palate so I hesitated a little, but all the flavors came together wonderfully. Thanks for posting it!
You are welcome, Tina. Thank you for the positive feedback.
We absolutely loved this recipe. I followed your recipe step by step and it was easy and delicious. I’m sure this will be one of our go to recipes for pork tenderloin. thank you for sharing your recipes.
Thank you so much for the positive feedback!