Ridiculasly Awesome Mandarin Pork Salad

Makes 4 servings

Too good to be true... this salad is definitely off the chart for all around flavor. This is my all time favorite. The sweet pork, mandarin oranges, fresh shredded lettuce... it just gets all your senses going big time! A little sweet, a little salty, crunchy, a little heat, a lot of spicy and exotic flavors to tingle your tongue!

ingredients

For the marinade:
1 (2 lb.) pork tenderloin
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/3 cup good olive oil
2 tablespoons Cream Sherry
For the salad:
4 cups finely shredded lettuce
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce
1/2 cup finely shredded carrots
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 cup of mandarin oranges, drained
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1/3 teaspoon five spice powder
4 tablespoons chopped cilantro for garnish (1 tablespoon per salad)

directions

1
For the marinade:
2
Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in gallon sized zip lock baggie. Place tenderloin in the zip lock baggie with the marinade. Remove excess air and seal the bag. Place bag in large bowl and let pork marinate overnight in the refrigerator or at the least, 4 hours.
3
Next, remove pork from marinade and place on rack in roaster pan. Uncovered, bake in 350 degree oven 25-30 minutes, turning once or twice until the middle of the tenderloin is only the slightest pink. Remove from pan and let it rest, covered in foil for 10-15 minutes to redistribute the juices.
4
For the salad:
5
First, shred the lettuce and carrots very finely. Drain and chop the water chestnuts and add them to the lettuce and carrots.
6
Mix the Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, oil and five spice powder and whisk vigorously to emulsify.
7
Slice the tenderloin on the diagonal about 1/4" thick.
8
To plate: Place one cup of the shredded lettuce mixture onto a plate and drizzle with the Hoisin dressing mix. Place several pieces of the tenderloin over the bed of lettuce. Top with mandarin orange slices, the green onions and another drizzle of the Hoisin dressing mix. Top with 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro per saiad as garnish. Serve immediately and enjoy!
9
*** You can add chopped dry roasted peanuts to the salad as another garnish if desired.

notes

This is a truly amazing salad. To me, the taste ranks up there somewhere between over the rainbow and over the rainbow! I hope you enjoy this salad as much as I have.

Source: Barbie Miller