Bee Wild's honey gives sweet heat to this flavorful pork tenderloin salad
By Catherine Neville
Brine your pork. Trust me on this. If you brine pork before cooking, whether roasting, grilling or sauteing, you will ensure juicy, flavorful results. Pork tenderloin in particular benefits from brining. A very popular cut of meat, pork tenderloin is incredibly lean and easy to overcook and dry out, so try allowing it to spend a few hours in brine the next time you’re cooking this cut at home.
Most brines consist of water, salt and, sometimes, sugar, along with other flavor-enhancers like peppercorns and herbs. For this recipe, I used Georgia-based Bee Wild’s lovely gallberry honey, lending honey’s complexity to the brine, and carried that honey flavor through the rest of the dish by using Bee Wild’s Devil’s Advocate ghost pepper infused honey in a vinaigrette and extra honey drizzle on the plate.
Pork and honey are a great match, and this honey-brined pork tenderloin is delicious served atop a salad singing with summer flavors that are also spot-on matches for Bee Wild’s raw, sustainable honeys. In particular, the hot honey’s sweet heat punctuates the complex (yet simple to make) vinaigrette, which is infused with garlic and ginger.
While I made this recipe at the height of summer, it’s easily adapted to any season — just build your salad with what’s fresh in the market, adding nuts for crunch and goat cheese for tang. The pork and the hot honey dressing will play well with just about any greens you want to feature.
Honey-brined Pork Tenderloin Salad with Hot-Honey Vinaigrette
Yield: 6 servings
Pork Tenderloin
3 - 4 lbs pork tenderloin
3 cups water
2 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp Bee Wild Gallberry Honey
Hot Honey Vinaigrette
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp minced ginger
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 to 2 Tbsp Bee Wild Devil’s Advocate Honey, plus more for serving
Salt and pepper to taste
Arugula-Blackberry-Walnut Salad
3 to 4 cups arugula
1 cup sprouts — pea shoots, sunflower sprouts, etc.
1 cup walnuts
1 cup blackberries
1 shallot, thinly sliced
3 oz fresh goat cheese, crumbled
| Preparation | In a lidded container, mix water, salt and honey until salt dissolves. Place tenderloin in brine and cover. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, but no more than 8. Remove tenderloin from brine and remove any silverskin. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat and add a bit of olive oil. Sear tenderloin on all sides, adding water as necessary to prevent burning. Place tenderloin in oven and roast until cooked through, about 20 minutes. While pork is roasting, make the dressing.
To make the dressing, combine garlic, ginger, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, Devil’s Advocate Honey, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning. Allow to rest while pork is roasting to meld flavors.
When pork is cooked properly, remove to a cutting board and make your salad. In a large bowl, toss arugula with sprouts, walnuts, blackberries, shallot and goat cheese.
To serve, divide salad among your plates and dress with hot honey vinaigrette. Slice pork tenderloin in to discs and divide among plates. Drizzle pork with more of the Devil’s Advocate honey.