There are a few good reasons for choosing this particular cut of pork. Firstly, as the name suggests…it is tender. It comes in a convenient size, around 450g, which is enough for two (plus a delicious left-overs sandwich).

Pork tenderloin cuts are lean. They contain only marginally more fat than skinless chicken breast fillet, but are packed with nutrients. Pork meat has more protein than chicken and is high in zinc, iron and B-vitamins.

You will need:

two cloves garlic

1 sprig rosemary

1 tbs lemon juice

2 tbs brown sugar

1 teaspoon cognac

Preheat oven to 220`C . Weigh your pork. You need to allow 30 minutes roasting time per 500g meat.

Spike the pork with rosemary and garlic. Rub with a little olive oil and place into a roasting dish. Place into the oven and reduce heat to 180`C. Set your timer to 10 minutes.

Combine the brown sugar, lemon juice and cognac. Baste the pork every 10 minutes with the sugar mixture.

Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing. In summertime, I allow the meat to cool completely before serving it cold with the cherry salad.

 

 For the salad:

1 cup quinoa

1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 spring onion, finely sliced

200g fresh cherries, pitted and halved

50g roasted pinenuts, optional

50g feta or goats cheese (optional)

handful of torn salad leaves

olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

salt

Cook the quinoa according to instructions on the pack. Combine with parsley, spring onion and salad leaves. Dress to your taste, using the lemon juice, olive oil and salt.

Scatter cherries and pine nuts on t0p.