Pork Tenderloin with Caramelized Onions, Black Beans, Sweet Potato Toast & Avocado Cream

by zan@zeliciousrecipes.com | Meats, Paleo

I once again found inspiration for this dish from the Flavor Bible, by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. I wanted to combine ingredients that were unusual but had a good balance of flavors, and paired nicely together. So this dish has a little bit of everything, sweet, sour and salty. My husband Dan and foodie-son Lucas said I could add it to my Top Five! It was a proud moment!

Hopefully, this list of ingredients is not too daunting. 😉

Avocado Cream:

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro (no stems)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 tsp fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/2 Tsp salt
• 3/4 cup Creme Fraiche

Sweet potato toast:

• 1 large sweet potato (sliced with cheese slicer)
• olive oil
• salt

Pork Tenderloin:

• 1 pork tenderloin (approximately 1 lb.)
• 2 tsp rock salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro

Black Beans:

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 yellow onion chopped
• 1 can of organic Black Beans
• 2 cloves of garlic
• salt to taste

Caramelized Onions:

• 2 onions sliced in rings
• 2 tbsp butter
• salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. First, you want to bake the sweet potato toast. Cover sweet potato slices in olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place in the oven on a baking sheet and cook until slightly browned approximately 20 minutes. Meanwhile, for the pork loin, melt butter in an iron skillet (oven safe) on medium high heat, add salt and pepper to the loin roast, and sear the pork on all sides. Once it is nicely browned, place the pork into the oven, next to potatoes and cook for approximately 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 135-140 degrees (for medium rare). You can then caramelize the onions, in a skillet with butter, stirring occasionally, until onions are browned and sweet. Next, in a saucepan, add the butter, once melted add the onions and garlic and cook over medium heat. Make sure not to brown the garlic. Add in the beans with the liquid and cook down the beans for 15 minutes. Next, you can make the avocado cream. Place the avocados into a food processor, or blender and add the oil, lime, salt, and cilantro. Puree until smooth. Remove from food processor and fold in the Créme Fraîche.

Now you are ready for assembly. Place 2 spoonfuls of Avocado Creme on each plate in a long smear. Add to pieces of Sweet Potato toast, then the beans, followed by the pork and caramelized onions, and finally sprinkle with the chopped cilantro. Serves 4. Enjoy!