pork tenderloin with orange-balsamic glaze on a budget

 While a student, my budget is quite strict, and often times than none when I do find that I have spent a bit over budget at apres ski or campus bars watching hockey- it is my groceries (quality) which evidently must endure the price cuts.  In particular, the fruits (obsession), cheeses (second obsession), and meats  (as a raised Estonian I do love meat).  However last night was different.  Last night my roommate and I decided to have a "grown-up" dinner date, and without hesitation I insisted we make a meat dish (why not right? when in rome).

Feeling on the "light side" we picked from Rose Reisman's "The Complete Light Kitchen" and picked her "pork tenderloin with orange-balsamic glaze." With little to compare it to, I must give this plate a ten for taste, ten for satisfaction, ten for simplicity, and ten for presentation.

Given our budget, we purchased one pork tenderloin (i would recommend picking the one with the least amount of blood swimming in the packaging), an orange, apricot jam (we bought the cheapest, no name brand, which was actually very good!), orange juice concentrate (again, we bought the no name brand), garlic, parsley, and a packet of dried apricots (great snack as well!).  And then from what we had at the apartment/ "palace" as we like to call it, we had balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper.   From there we (my roommate and I) placed the tenderloin on a lightly sprayed pan on high heat for about two minutes each side.  We then placed the tenderloin on to the parchment paper lined baking dish and gazed the tenderloin with a quarter of the orange-balsamic glaze (1/4 cup OJ concentrate, 1/4 cup apricot jam, 2 tsp of orange zest, 1 tsp of minced garlic, 1/4 cup of chopped dried apricots (the recipe states to add this when it is all done but we added it in anyways), 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar, and 1 tbsp of olive oil).  We then placed the tenderloin into the oven set at 425 degrees F for twenty-five minutes and viola.  With five easy steps given by Rose Reisman, and thirty minutes later, our "grown-up" dinner was complete.

To accompany the dish, we boiled some asparagus accompanied with some lemon juice.  While delicious, I don't know if I would say it was the best to go with the orange-balsamic glazed pork tenderloin- next time I think I will make some brown rice or even maybe a few potatoes (if wanting a heavier meal) to further compliment the orange-balsamic glaze.

Happy eating,
A