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Pork with Roasted Red Bell Pepper Salsa and Sweet Potatoes

A complete whole 30/paleo meal. If you follow the directions below, you can make this whole meal in about 40 minutes.
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Keyword easy dinner recipe, Whole30 recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Servings 2 servings
Author Linda Spiker

Ingredients

The Potatoes:

  • 2 small sweet potatoes
  • Sea salt
  • Pepper
  • extra virgin olive oil for veggies and pans

Red Bell Pepper Salsa:

  • 1 large roasted red pepper diced (see instructions posted above)
  • 1 large ripe avocado diced
  • 1 large tomato diced
  • ¼ of a red onion finely diced
  • Serrano chili finely minced, use ½ teaspoon for mild, ¾ teaspoon for medium, 1 teaspoon or more for hot
  • 2 teaspoons cilantro chopped
  • juice of half a lime
  • sea salt to taste

The Pork:

  • 2- 1 " thick pork blade steaks cut from the shoulder or 3/4-1 lb pork tenderloin
  • sea salt
  • pepper
  • dried cumin
  • garlic powder

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place one rack in the upper third of oven and a second rack in the lower third. Place parchment paper on a rimmed cookie sheet and set aside

To roast red pepper: 

  • Wash and dry red pepper.
  • Turn cook top burner on med heat and place red pepper right on the burner
  • Allow pepper to sit on burner until skin turns black, use tongs to rotate the pepper
  • Keep cooking the pepper till all sides are blackened, turning as each side is charred
  • Remove pepper, place in bowl and cover with lid or plastic wrap
  • Let sit for ten minutes while you prepare your other ingredients

Sweet potatoes:

  • Cut sweet potatoes in half lengthwise, then cut 1/4 " half moons
  • Place potatoes on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper
  • Drizzle with olive oil and toss (use just enough oil that all the potatoes are glistening)
  • Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper, to taste
  • Spread potatoes out in a single layer
  • Place in oven for 30 minutes, turning halfway through cooking time

Make The Salsa:

  • Dice tomato, avocado and onion.
  • Mince Serrano chili, be sure to wash your hands well after and avoid rubbing your eyes for several hours (see instructions linked above for how to handle hot chili peppers).
  • Chop cilantro. Place all prepared ingredients except chili in a bowl, stir and set aside.
  • Remove red pepper from bowl and peel the blackened skin off pepper. This can be a little messy. Once blackened skin is removed, dice pepper and add to bowl with other vegetables, stir. Add Serrano chili. Sprinkle with sea salt and squeeze with lime, stir.

The Pork:

  • Sprinkle pork with seasonings. Place an oven safe pan (I like cast iron for this) on med/high heat. Add enough olive oil to pan that the bottom is lightly coated
  • When oil is hot add pork, searing until brown on all sides (usually 3-4 minutes a side) If you are using tenderloin instead of blade steaks you'll turn 1/4 turns so all sides are browned.
  • Once browned place pan on the lower rack of the oven (below potatoes).
  • If you used 1" steaks, cook for about 12 minutes, if you used a tenderloin, cook for 15-16 more minutes or until tenderloin has a SLIGHTLY pink center. Potatoes should be done right around the time the pork is done.
  • Remove from oven, allow pork to rest for five minutes
  • Slice pork, drizzle with drippings from pan, serve with potatoes and salsa.