Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa

Summerish weather has finally hit here in Not-So-Sunny San Diego!  Fog still blankets us in the morning, but thank goodness the sun gods have seen fit to let the sun shine on us during the day.  I can't tell you what a difference a good day of sun makes on one's outlook!

With energy to burn we filled our day with "summerish" events (beach and shopping!) and came home to plan an evening meal in the gorgeous, sunny outdoors.  With a fresh pork tenderloin in the fridge and perfectly ripe mangoes on the counter we opted one of our all time summer favorites.  Spices from our pantry mixed together to create a slightly spicy and extraordinarily flavorful rub for the meat, and fresh mangoes, jalapeños, onion, a touch of lime and cilantro quickly combined for our delightfully contrasting sweet salsa.

The spice rub is one we have been using for a few years and has become our "go-to" rub when time is a bit short.  I mix up a batch and found some cute little storage bottles at an outlet store to keep whatever I have remaining so that I always have some on hand.  The bottled rub also works wonderfully for a cute hostess gift!

This is one of those meals that all comes together on the grill for those hot (or just plain nice) days when you don't want to cook inside.  Corn from the market and a buttered baguette joined the pork on the grill and with the addition of a side salad our meal was complete. 

(Lost my light by serving time!)

Grill Every Day Spice Rub

adapted from Grill Every Day, by Diane Morgan

¼ cup Kosher or Sea Salt

2 Tbs coarsely ground pepper

1 Tbs ground corriander

3 Tbs ground cumin

1 Tbs sweet paprika

1 Tbs smoked paprika

2 Tbs dried thyme, crushed

2 Tbs chili powder

2½ Tbs dark brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix all ingredients together and store in a jar with a tightly fitting lid in a dark place for up to six months.

Mango Salsa

1-2 mangoes, chopped

red onion, diced

cilantro, chopped

squeeze lime

sprinkle salt

I make different amounts of this salsa and have never actually measured what I use.  I taste as I go along, and stop when it tastes good!  

Grilled Tenderloin

Coat tenderloin with a few Tablespoons of the rub and let sit as the grill heats up.  Place on a medium hot grill and cook until an instant read thermometer reads 140º (note, most directions will tell you to cook to 160º, we find that to be too done for our tastes so we bend the rules.  Please be aware of safe meat handling and cooking and follow the best safety tips when cooking meats).

Allow pork to rest on a board for 5-10 minutes, note that the meat will continue to cook for a few minutes after removing from the grill.  

Slice on the diagonal and serve with the mango salsa.