Citrus, jicama salad cools spicy pork

This one started with the side. The rich- tangy- crunchy combo of avocado- orange- jicama is so appealing that I’d have it with about anything. I’ve served it with grilled shrimp, piled atop sauteed chicken, as a refreshing foil to the slight char of grilled flank steak.

Here the salad cozies up to chile- spiked pork tenderloin, spicy heat against cooling fat and sweet citrus. I like the trio of ingredients’ proportions to be about equal. You might monkey with the amounts to achieve that end, depending on the size of the produce you find. Jicama is that gnarly- on- the- outside, crisp- on- the- inside root vegetable found in Mexican groceries and many supermarkets. Put a vegetable peeler to the job of denuding it, or a sharp knife — cutting downward toward the cutting board and following the curves around the bulb.

Pork Tenderloin With Orange- AvocadoJicama Salad

1 large avocado, peeled, pitted, chopped in ½ - inch dice 2 oranges, peeled, segmented,

chopped in ½ - inch dice 1 cup chopped jicama, in ½ -

inch dice 2 tablespoons extra- virgin olive

oil, divided use 1 to 2 tablespoons freshly

squeezed orange juice 1 tablespoon blanco or reposado tequila, optional ½ teaspoon salt, divided use 2 pork tenderloins ½ teaspoon chile powder such as ancho, chipotle or arbol ½ cup dry sherry, dry white wine or light red wine Chopped cilantro or parsley

Stir the avocado, orange, jicama, 1 tablespoon olive oil, orange juice, tequila and

¼ teaspoon salt together in a bowl.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium- high heat; season the tenderloins with the ground chile and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, turning to brown all sides, 8 minutes. Stir in sherry, scraping the bottom of the pan; reduce heat to a simmer. Cook, occasionally basting the meat with the wine, until tenderloins are cooked through, 15 minutes.

Serve the tenderloins, sliced against the grain in thin pieces and sprinkled with the fresh herb, accompanied by the salad.

Makes 4 servings.