WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS Pairing green beans and potatoes with quickcooking pork tenderloin makes a hearty meat-and-veg dinner that’s quick enough for any night. We started with a base of green beans and halved fingerling potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet and then perched two tenderloins right on top of the vegetables. Keeping the tenderloins up off the metal pan helped protect the lean meat from drying out while at the same time the vegetables developed great browning. Brushing a layer of salty-sweet-spicy hoisin sauce over the meat before roasting gave it a complex flavor boost and an appealing caramelized layer. After just 20 minutes of roasting, we took the tenderloins out to rest and gave the vegetables a little extra time in the oven to pick up more color. An easy garlic-chive butter, melted over the resting pork and tossed with the vegetables, made for a rich, flavorful finish. To ensure that the tenderloins don’t curl during cooking, remove the silverskin. A rasp-style grater makes quick work of turning the garlic into a paste.
Serves: 4
Total time: 50 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
- 1 garlic clove, minced to paste
- Salt and pepper
- 1 pound green beans, trimmed
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1½ pounds fingerling potatoes, unpeeled, halved lengthwise
- 2 (12-to 16-ounce) pork tenderloin trimmed
- ¼ cup hoisin sauce
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Combine butter, chives, garlic, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in bowl; set aside.
- Toss green beans with 1 tablespoon oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in separate bowl. Arrange beans crosswise down center of rimmed baking sheet, leaving room on both sides for potatoes. Toss potatoes with remaining 2 tablespoons oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper in now-empty bowl. Place potatoes, cut side down, on either side of green beans.
- Pat tenderloins dry with paper towels, season with salt and pepper, and brush thoroughly with hoisin. Lay tenderloins lengthwise, without touching, on top of green beans. Roast until pork registers 145 degrees, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Remove sheet from oven and transfer tenderloins to carving board. Dot each tenderloin with 1 tablespoon chive butter and let rest while vegetables finish cooking. Gently stir vegetables on sheet to combine and continue to roast until tender and golden, 5 to 10 minutes.
- Remove sheet from oven, add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to vegetables, and toss to coat. Slice pork ½ inch thick and serve with vegetables.
