Pork Medallion with Ancient Grain Salad

We have been trying to eat less white rice, particularly at night. Lots of salad topped with grilled steak, shrimp or tofu. Lately, I have been cooking lots of couscous and quinoa. I bought a bag labelled as Quinoa Ancient Blend. Essentially, is a blend of quinoa, amaranth and millet. Cooked it the same way as quinoa. 1- 1 1/2 cup of liquid to 1 cup of quinoa. Today, I used the Green Chili Adobo and Roasted Garlic marinade I have in the fridge, to flavour the quinoa salad. The quinoa blend was nuttier than plain quinoa. Somewhat more filling.



Quinoa Salad

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup Quinoa or Ancient grain blend
2 cups of chicken stock
2 teaspoon Green Chili Adobo
2 teaspoon Roasted Garlic
(makes 3 cups of cooked Quinoa Ancient Blend)

Dressing
1/4 cup lime juice
6 tablespoon red wine vinegar
6 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Salsa and fixings
1 large Mango, diced small (I used frozen mango today)
1 14 oz can black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 tomato, diced
1/2 an onion, diced
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 Avocado, sliced.

Method:

Preparing the Quinoa 
Heat pan over medium high heat. Add 2 teaspoon each of Green Chili Adobo and Roasted Garlic. When hot add, Quinoa Ancient blend and toast, stirring constantly until lightly golden. Add chicken stock, stir and bring to a boil. Once stock starts to boil, cover and turn down heat to a simmer. Cook covered for 18 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 5-10 minutes.

Make the dressing.
Add all the ingredients to a mason jar. Cover tightly with a cap and shake jar to emulsify the dressing. Can also be made in a bowl, whisking all the ingredients together.

Add a couple teaspoon of dressing to the cooled quinoa and toss. Taste. I prefer to lightly season it with the dressing and serve more dressing on the side. Add black bean, half of the onion and cilantro. Toss to distributed. Spoon into the serving bowl, heaping in the middle of the bowl.

Combine the diced mango, diced onion and cilantro together in a bowl. Season with dressing.

Assembly
Top the bowl of Quinoa Ancient blend with the mango and tomato salsa. Arrange slices of avocado around the side of the heaped quinoa.

Pan Seared Tuscan style Pork Medallion
2 lb pork tenderloin, cut into 1 1/2 to 2 inch medallions
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice.

Combined all the ingredients to make a paste. Rub the tenderloin with the herb paste. Cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch medallions.  Marinate the pork medallions  for at least an hour, preferably a day ahead in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator and bring to room temperature before cooking.

Heat a large pan over medium heat. Rub the tops of the medallions with a little olive oil. Place oiled side down on hot pan. Cooking without moving for 2 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side until brown, another minute. Add 1/4 cup of chicken stock, water or wine to the pan. Cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Remove cover and check internal temperature is 145F. Remove medallions to warm serving platter. Serve with quinoa salad or a green salad.