Herbed Pork Tenderloin with Oven Roasted Potatoes

I’ve made pork tenderloin several different ways in the past. I’ve marinated it, put it in the slow cooker, charred it good in a pan with some hot oil – the usual suspects. Yesterday I was feeling a little lazy. If you’ve never cooked one, you might think a roast is a super fancy meal that requires lots of effort. Nope! There’s no better dinner (in my opinion) than a roast when you’re not really feeling like cooking. You throw everything in a pan and stick it in the oven. That’s it. I was drawn to this recipe mostly because it didn’t include searing the meat before placing it in the oven. Honestly, I just wasn’t in the mood to have even one more dish to clean. Yup. Lazy dinner time.

Searing your meat in some hot oil will still give you the best color, flavor and moistness in your roasts – but if you’re having an off day, this recipe is totally good enough for government work. The meat stayed nice and tender, the veggies and potatoes were delicious and overall, I was quite pleased with my lazy dinner. You may have been conditioned to think that pork has to be gray and lifeless before you can eat it. Not so. Cooking to 140° and allowing the meat to sit about 5 minutes (the temperature will rise while it rests) will give you perfectly cooked pork that still has a slight rosy hue in the middle. Scrumptious!

1/3 c. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried rosemary leaves, crushed
2 tsp. dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 whole pork tenderloins (3/4 to 1 lb. each) — I just took my 1.8 pound tenderloin and cut it in half before placing it in the pan.
2 1/2 lbs. potatoes, quartered
5 carrots cut into 2 inch chunks
1 onion, cut into large chunks