Fennel-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Potatoes

The pork tenderloin makes a reappearance. You may be asking, why so soon? Didn't we just have Pork Tenderloin with Carrots and Couscous? And yes, we did, but the pork happened to come as a set of two (much to our surprise). So here we are: fennel-crusted pork tenderloin.

Fennel seeds are very aromatic with an almost licorice-like flavor. They act as a really great spice; strong and full of impact. You really don't need much else. I found this spice mixture in the Food Made Fast: Weeknight (Williams-Sonoma) cookbook, which I checked out from our public library. The spice mixture also consists of fresh lemon juice and zest, in addition to salt, fresh ground black pepper, finely chopped garlic, and extra-virgin olive oil. Simply rub on your pork and roast in a 425 degree Fahrenheit oven until browned on the outside and barely pink in the center (around 145-150 degrees Fahrenheit).

I also roasted chunks of sweet potato, red potato, and Yukon gold potato after tossing them in extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Because I had them in the same baking dish as the pork, they got a little doused with fennel seed also (probably because I stirred the vegetables often throughout the duration of roasting).

The fennel has a bite to it; it really spices up what could be just a regular, ordinary piece of pork. Definitely plan to make this recipe again in the future. Here's to more pork tenderloin. A fine piece of meat indeed.