Pork tenderloin with porcini broth and chilled beet soup

After the New Year (when everyone is in a frenzy to eat healthy) I came across Bon Appetit's Food Lovers Cleanse. In theory it's a perfect way to jump start your year. Two weeks of healthy and delicious meals planned out along with a complete grocery list for each week sounds like a great way to simplify your life... until you start looking at the massive amounts of cooking and fancy/exotic foods required. I'm not still not sure how anyone with a job (or children) would have the time or money to prepare their breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes every single day for 2 weeks.

So while it didn't take me long to figure out that it was a completely unreasonable plan to follow, individually a lot of the recipes sounded excellent and totally approachable. I ended up making/being inspired by multiple recipes, including this roasted beet soup and pork tenderloin with porcini broth. Both were super simple, incredibly approachable, and had a ton of great flavor.

The soup, other than being stunning, tasted like what it says: roasted beets. The flavor gets mellowed out a bit with the buttermilk, and has a great texture after pureeing/chilling the soup.

I loved the bright pink color of this beet soup!

The pork dish was equally simple yet bursting with flavor. It was a unique way for me to serve my pork tenderloin, which I usually just sear and roast. And the umami of the mushrooms worked really well with the lean pork.

Buen Provecho,
Jacqueline

Roasted Beet Soup, adapted from Bon Appetit's 2015 Food Lovers Cleanse

The original recipe called for a full tablespoon of caraway seeds, which was just a bit too potent for me (as I'm not a huge fan). I still liked the soup as is, but next time I'd cut the full tablespoon down a bit. That suggestion is included below. 

Ingredients
1 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp to 1 TBSP caraway seeds, to taste
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 leek, white and pale-green parts only, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds of beets, roasted and chopped
1 cup buttermilk, divided, plus more for serving
Fresh dill sprigs, cracked pepper (for serving)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add caraway seeds and cook, stirring, until they start to pop and dance around in the pan, about 1 minute. 
2. Quickly add onion, leek, and a splash of water to keep seeds from burning; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, 5–7 minutes. 
3. Add beets and 2½ cups water to pan; season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook, stirring occasionally, until flavors come together, 15–20 minutes. 
4. Let mixture cool slightly, then purée in a blender in 2 batches, adding ½ cup buttermilk to each batch (or use an immersion blender directly in your pot). 
5. If serving warm: gently heat soup, adding water to adjust consistency if needed. Serve drizzled with buttermilk and topped with dill sprigs and cracked pepper. If serving cold: refrigerate soup until ready to serve. Serve drizzled with buttermilk or topped with yogurt/crème fraîche. 

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Porcini Broth, adapted from Bon Appetit's 2015 Food Lovers Cleanse

Ingredients
½ oz. dried porcini mushrooms (about ¾ cup)
1 1¼-lb. pork tenderloin
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 small shallot, finely chopped
4 oz. wild or cultivated mushrooms (a combination of black trumpet, maitake, chanterelle, beech, oyster, and/or shiitake), trimmed, halved if large
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced on a diagonal
1 cup homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 
2. Place porcinis in a heatproof bowl and cover with 2 cups boiling water. Set aside until porcinis are tender, about 20 minutes. Strain, reserving liquid and mushrooms. Finely chop mushrooms.
3. Season pork with salt and pepper. Heat 1 TBSP oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook until browned on all sides, 6–8 minutes. 
4. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into center of pork registers 140°F, approximately 20 minutes. Transfer pork to a cutting board and let rest 5-10 minutes before slicing ½” thick (about 15 slices). 
5. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 TBSP oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Add shallot, mushrooms, and carrots, season with salt and pepper, and cook 1 minute. Add porcini broth, chopped porcinis, and chicken stock, season with salt and pepper, and simmer until vegetables are tender, about 4 minutes. 
6. Divide pork among shallow bowls and ladle broth and vegetables over top.