Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Romaine Salad

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Smithfield® Marinated Fresh Pork. The opinions and text are all mine.

Whether I’m cooking for my family or entertaining friends for a lovely evening on the patio, pork is one of my favorite things to grill! I have a go-to homemade teriyaki marinade that I use frequently as well as a balsamic rosemary marinade that we all love but I also like to make it super easy sometimes and buy Smithfield® Marinated Fresh Pork. I recently grilled a Smithfield Hardwood Smoked Bacon and Cracked Black Pepper Marinated Pork Tenderloin with grilled romaine salad and it was the most delicious dinner! While it looked pretty gourmet, it was actually incredibly easy and required very little prep … which is my favorite kind of meal!

I popped over to my local United Supermarket to buy Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork. Found in the fresh meat section, Smithfield Fresh Pork is perfect any night and so flavorful when cooked on the grill.

In addition to the marinated pork, for this recipe you’ll also need romaine lettuce heads, red onion, goat cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, and fresh thyme. If you’re growing other herbs in your garden this summer, substitute one of those instead.

To cook the pork, preheat the grill to medium heat then grill the pork tenderloin until the inside temperature reaches about 160 degrees. To avoid overcooking the outside, I like to grill it on the upper rack. This marinated pork tenderloin also has pieces of bacon all over the outside {is your mouth watering yet?} so keeping it on the top rack will keep the bacon from burning as well

While the pork tenderloin is grilling, prepare the salad. If you haven’t had grilled salad before, you’re in for a treat! Lightly charring the romaine heads brings out a delicious flavor and makes an ordinary salad a bit more unique!

To prepare the salad, cut the romaine lettuce heads in half lengthwise, dice the red onion, crumble the goat cheese, and remove the leaves from the fresh thyme.

Brush the cut side of the romaine with a very thin layer of olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir together 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and 2 teaspoons olive oil and set aside.

When the pork tenderloin is fully cooked, place the romaine cut side down on the grill for 1-2 minutes or until lightly charred then remove both the meat and the lettuce.