Day 9: Pork Tortillas Adobo

This is from my WW Take Out Tonight Cookbook again. Obviously, it was under the Mexican food section. The main reason for choosing this recipe tonight is that I still had 1lb of pork tenderloin left over from the 2 lb tenderloin I bought for the Chinese BBQ Pork. I wanted to use it before I forgot I had it.

This was a big step for me because i do not eat Mexican food unless American tacos and cheese quesadillas count. In fact, none of the ingredients in this recipe sounded good to me. However, I decided that I have been pleasantly surprised in the past by recipes I thought sounded disgusting, so this dish could actually vend up tasting good.

I needed the onions and cider vinegar and waited until Paul got home because Austin was having a good time in his pool. Of course, it waited until I was pulling out of the driveway to torrential down pour. The checker at the Jewel even said, "you came out in this weather just for these items." Thanks, dude. Before I just wanted it to be good, now I needed it to be good to make it all worth it :)

Pork Tortillas Adobo(serves 4)
Calories: 309 WW: 6 points

1 teaspoon olive oil
2 onions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water(Ooops. There was supposed to be water???)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 1lb pork tenderloin, trimmed of all visible fat
4 (8inch) fat free flour tortillas

Step 1: heat a large nonstick skillet. Swirl in oil and add onions, granulated sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and WATER. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes(onions softened and lightly browned).

Step 2: Stir in the tomato sauce and simmer about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Step 3: Combine the brown sugar, chili powder, oregano, cumin, vinegar and 1/4 teaspoon salt in small bowl.

Step 4: Rub mixture all over pork. Place pork on greased rack in roasting pan.

Step 5: Roast pork at 450 degrees for 25 minutes or until internal temperature reads 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer pork to cutting board and let sit for 10 minutes.

Step 6: Wrap tortillas in foil and warm in the oven(about 10 minutes).

Step 7: Thinly slice pork and stir into the sauce/onion mixture. Scoop 1/4 of mixture into a tortilla. Fold in half.

Kitchen Play by Play: Relatively easy. I put the onion mixture together first, but did not start it until I put the pork in the oven. I wanted to make sure that both components were hot when served. I was very surprised at how far the little amount of rub went. It coated the entire tenderloin very well. I was not a fan of the smell. I do not like cumin at all. I think it smells like dirty arm pits. The only real issue,other than the one noted above, with this recipe is that the pork was not done enough for me after 25 minutes, so I put it in for another 5. I then let it stand for about 8 minutes before slicing. Needless to say, by then, my onions were cold. I found Bush's Grillin' Beans, which we love, in Black Bean Fiesta flavor so that is what accompanied our pork tortillas this evening. One serving of the black beans is a little more than 1 pt.

The Finished Product
The Verdict:
Nicole- I actually really liked it. I loved the balance of sweet and a tad spicy. I'm not sure what kind of difference the 1/4 cup of water would have made, but I thought the onions were cooked perfectly and that the pork was super tender. I would maybe consider ordering this at a Mexican restaurant instead of my quesadillas. I give it a 3.5. The beans were excellent as well.

Paul-gives it a 3.5 too.

Austin- Could not eat the beans fast enough. He loves beans. He eats the kidney beans out of chili and always asks me for my black beans off my salads. He thought the pork was just okay. He didn't go crazy over it. It was no marinated flank steak.