MMM Pork & Beans

Why "MMM"? There are three key components to this dish:

M - medallions, pork tenderloin
M - mushrooms, portobello, caps thereof
M - mashed canellini beans

And, of course, once you take a bite, your only reaction should be, "MMM!"

Oh, and asparagus. Typical.

I started off roasting the mushroom caps. I bought three LARGE caps. It was a lot, but leftover roasted mushrooms are delicious with eggs in the morning. I took off the stems and scraped out the gills with a spoon. Brush off any dirt with a paper towel. I scraped an X into the tops to let the juices run out easier, brushed with oil on both sides, and seasoned liberally with salt, pepper, and Herbes de Provence. I roasted them 10 minutes per side at 400 degrees.

After the first 10 minutes, I threw some asparagus onto the pan (tossed with a little oil, S&P) as I flipped the mushrooms.

They came out looking absolutely gorgeous.

Now, for the beans. My "Tuscan beans" make an appearance all year round since the ingredient is seasonal - canned Goya beans. You can dress these up as much as you like with spices and herbs, but the standard recipe looks something like this:

1. Cook a diced onion and as many cloves of garlic as you like (I used 4 - 5 for this iteration) in some oil or butter.

2. Pour in a can of drained cannelini beans. I prefer these since they're mild and creamy and fantastic, but really any bean of your choice will do. I also prefer Goya low sodium - they're perfectly tender but not too salty. I also had rosemary on hand and added a bunch into the pan.

3. Add in chicken stock (or vegetable stock, or wine), a few glugs or one to two turns of the pan. Heat the liquid until it starts to bubble a bit.

4. Mash the beans. I find that the addition of the liquid in step 3 helps make the mashed bean mixture really smooth and creamy.

If you just want mashed beans, you're done! I wanted to veggie-fy them even further and tossed in some washed, shredded kale. I put a lid on the pan for a few minutes to let the kale wilt down a bit.

J worked on the pork. He sliced a 3/4 pound pork tenderloin into circles and pounded out the medallions to make them a bit thinner. Then, he seasoned with salt and pepper, seared each side and finished in the oven (about 10 minutes).

To plate, I spooned a base of the creamy mashed beans with kale, topped it with one mushroom cap, placed some of the pork on top, and ran out of space for asparagus to just plopped it on the sides. And if you look closely, you can see that I even sprinkled a little more rosemary on top! This is a go-to weeknight meal. It doubles up on the protein (pork and beans) and triples up on vegetables (kale, asparagus, mushrooms). It's filling, it's hearty, it's healthy, and it's delicious.