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Roasted pork loin

~dinner

My grandmother roasts a pork loin often when the family gets together. She usually heavily seasons the outside and lets it cook in the oven while we are all at Sunday worship services. This is not a childhood tradition, but more of a recent in the last 10 years type of tradition. She also makes a variety of vegetables and bread to go with it. Stephen usually has the choice end piece of the roast since he loves the spice and heat from the seasoning.

I was thinking about those many Sundays with pink cloth napkins, usually reserved for BBQ chicken. I wanted to make a pork loin in the oven with plenty left over for some mid-week dishes. I used the high heat, slow roast method.

In the pan, I put chopped carrots, parsnips, and onions. I used a little oil to toss with the vegetables and some rosemary, garlic and parsley as well.

pork loin

Now here is the fun part.

Preheat oven to 550*. Yes, 550*.

When it is ready, put the pan in the oven for 6 minutes per pound. Use a calculator to figure out exactly how long that will be. In this case, 18 minutes.

After the time has passed, turn off the oven but do NOT open the door for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, remove the pan and use a meat thermometer to make sure center has reached 145*. Let stand 5 minutes then slice. It should be barely pink in the middle.

pork2

I plan to use the leftovers for a sausage and vegetable stew and sliced pork for a salad for work.

One thing I’ve noticed about eating more protein is I’m actually spending less at the grocery store. Protein really fills me up and keeps me going for a few hours. This one loin of pork will feed both of us 2 dinner meals, make 4 lunches, and 2 salads. Neither one of us ate a lot of meat with this dish, but we cleaned up the vegetables. I’m glad we have a few weeks of cold weather left since I LOVE roasting anything I can in the oven. When  the July heat hits, the oven is turned off for a few months. But until then, I’m a roasting fanatic!