Healthy Pork Tenderloin With Ghanaian Spice

Hello to all you fitfam gang out there. Thank you for visiting my site. I noticed a lot of my visitors have health and nutrition interests as a priority. So today we are going to share a healthy pork tenderloin with Ghanaian spice rub recipe.

Pork Tenderloins

Pork is just about the only local meat you can get with a consistently great quality here in Lagos. It is naturally not tough, like beef can be, so we usually have an easier time cooking with it. I managed to get a hold of some great tenderloin pieces once. It has been a while but my usual go-to spots for any cut of pork are Shoprite and Spar. Tenderloins come in long thick strips, almost like a mini beef fillet. I butterflied mine, and by butterflying I mean I cut them down the middle to open the pieces up into a flat and wide steak. And that is exactly how we chose to cut our healthy pork tenderloin with Ghanaian spice rub dish.

How Is It Healthy?

Believe it or not, pork is the most consumed meat in the world, despite being forbidden in Islam and Judaism. Even in Nigeria with a huge Islamic population, it is so common. Surprising, isn’t it? But when you think about it pork comes as Cumberland sausages, bacon, prosciutto, parma ham, ham, pancetta, salami, pastrami, pepperoni, lardons, and the list goes on. It is true that meat is quite fatty. But my mother has always insisted it is healthy and the cholesterol in it is not as bad as we think. Either way, limiting fat in our diet is not a bad thing. We don’t have to eat a whole bar of butter or bacon fat all the time. Having said that, pork tenderloin is lean meat and you could make this your top choice of cut when buying it next time.

The Ghanaian Inspired Spice Rub

In Ghana we have these baby scotch bonnet type of peppers called pettie belles or kpakposhito. They are usually green but can also come in red. I remember the fragrance that would emanate from a freshly cut pepper. Wow, the perfumery would lift my senses, and the heat is not intense. Adding just a little into a stir fry or omelet would make the dish so delightful. It is a shame that sometimes I can’t quite get that scent I used to. I don’t really know why. Regardless of this, it is our spice of choice today. If you can’t get them, simply substitute with scotch bonnet or habaneros, which are much more fiery than pettie belles.

Did you like this recipe? Try our healthy marinated turkey breast recipe.

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Healthy Pork Tenderloin With Ghanaian Spice

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By Freda Muyambo – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 10 minutes – Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Today we are sharing a healthy pork tenderloin with a citrusy Ghanaian spice rub recipe for all our healthy lifestyle fans out there.

Ingredients

• 600 to 800g pork tenderloin
• 8 kpakposhito (1/2 to 1 scotch bonnet)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 inch of ginger
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon of thyme

Instructions

1

1. Grind, chop, or blend the spices together.

2

2. Butterfly the pork loins by splitting the fillet down the middle, to open it up into a steak. You may pound it a little to get it flat and tender. Cut the meat into 4 steaks and set aside.

3

3. Spread the marinade all over the steaks and season well with salt and pepper.

4

4. Heat up a frying pan with 1 tablespoon of oil. Fry the steaks for 3 to 4 minutes each side. You can tell how much the steak has cooked through by observing the side before turning over, the cooked brown meat should be halfway up the side of the steak.

5

5. Allow to rest then serve with steamed vegetables.