Tuesday Tasties No.16

Being in unison with most of the female population, I am determined to get rid of a good chunk of the weight which I put on over Christmas and whilst I was crutch bound. I am glad to advise that I have finally been discharged from physio and am well on the way to being back to my normal fitness crazy self. As such, you might notice some healthier recipes popping up, one such recipe being below!

Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Artichoke, Feta and Olives

I'll be honest and say this is the first time I have ever tried this recipe and I was surprised at how well all of the elements worked together. The olives and feta give a nice salty kick without being overpowering. You'll need:

• Artichoke hearts - I bought a can and used all but three
• Feta cheese - about 1/3 of a block
• 12 pitted olives - green or black whichever you prefer
• Dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• A pinch of salt & pepper
• 1 pork tenderloin - big enough for however many people you're serving
• Olive oil
• Bulgur wheat - 1 cup
• Chicken stock

First thing you'll need to do is whack your oven onto 200 degrees. Then grab yourself an oven-proof dish which is big enough to fit your loin into.

Next, into a food processor pop your artichoke hearts, feta, olives, oregano, lemon juice and salt & pepper. Then blitz this until finely chopped, it should look like the below.

Next, it's time to get your tenderloin. I'd recommend drying this off with a little bit of paper towel before starting the next step. Using a sharp knife, you'll need to cut through your tenderloin, almost to the point it's in half and you can fold it open like a book.

Once you've almost cut it in half, bash it so it becomes flat like the above, it should be about 1/2 inch in thickness. Don't be to worried if you don't have a meat hammer, I bashed mine with a rolling pin and it certainly seemed to do the trick.

Once you've reached the desired thickness, spread some of the filling on top. Once stuffed, you will need to roll the tenderloin back up so you'll noticed I've popped mine on a wrapper to make this step easier.

After you've rolled the tenderloin up (keeping the stuffing inside as much as possible) secure with either some butchers string or make do with some skewers like me, this will ensure you don't lose to much stuffing whilst it's cooking. Pop it on your dish and bung it in the oven for 25 minutes.

Whilst the tenderloin is cooking, pour some hot chicken stock over your bulgur wheat and leave it to absorb the water. You can always add a little dried oregano for a subtle hint of flavour.

Now it's time to plate this dish! I put the remaining stuffing on one side of the plate with the bulgur wheat on the other. I then sliced the tenderloin into thick chunks and popped this on top of the cold stuffing to heat it through slightly.

Whilst it may not look like much, it was packed full of flavour and incredibly filling. It's inspired me to try different stuffings to make my dishes more exciting. How about a cranberry and orange stuffed tenderloin for starters? 

This recipe was inspired by one in the Jillian Michaels Master Your Metabolism Cookbook and modified slightly to fit with my budget.

What's your favourite healthy recipe?