A sweet, tart autumn dish

By Bev Bennett
Los Angeles Times Syndicate

(Los Angeles Times Syndicate) -- Imagine a piece of meat that's so low in fat you can serve it on a weight-loss diet. This same meat doesn't require a long cooking time to become tender, and it isn't boneless, skinless chicken breast. It's pork tenderloin.

You'll be pleased to learn that a cooked 3.5-ounce serving has about 165 calories and less than 5 grams total fat. Pork is an excellent source of thiamine, riboflavin and niacin -- which are essential B vitamins -- and of the mineral zinc. However, you may be dismayed to see what a standard 3.5-ounce serving looks like on your plate. It's no bigger than a computer mouse.

To give this pork tenderloin dish some presence, simmer the meat with onions, apples and cabbage. The aroma of pork simmering is reminiscent of mulled cider. The flavors -- sweet, tart and tangy -- are everything you could want in an autumn dish. And the fact that it's healthful is the added bonus.

Autumn Pork Tenderloin

Makes 2 servings.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 small pork tenderloin (about 9 ounces)
• 1/2 cup apple juice concentrate
• 1 tablespoon honey mustard
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 unpeeled sweet-tart, crisp apple, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups shredded red cabbage
• 4 whole allspice
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pepper

Heat oil in nonstick Dutch oven. Add garlic and onion and saute 5 minutes. Add pork tenderloin and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes in all. Remove pork and set aside.

Add apple juice concentrate and scrape bottom of pan to pick up browned bits. Stir in mustard, brown sugar and vinegar.

Return pork to pan. Add apple, cabbage, allspice, bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste. Stir. Cover pan, reduce heat to low and simmer until pork is cooked through and cabbage and apples are tender, 35 to 45 minutes.

To serve, thinly slice pork and top with pan juices, apples and cabbage. Discard allspice and bay leaf.

Note: A 9-ounce portion of raw tenderloin will cook to about 7 ounces. Larger tenderloin will also work with above recipe. Leftovers can be refrigerated 1 to 2 days. If counting fat grams, reduce olive oil to 1/2 tablespoon.